EESE   LIBRA 


RSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 


N 


W&r/ 


•  •  f 


THE    GROWTH 


OF 


THE   TEMPORAL   POWER 


OF    THE 


PAPACY. 


THE    GROWTH 


OF 


THE    TEMPORAL    POWER 


OF  THE 


PAPACY 


A   HISTORICAL  REVIEW,    WITH  OBSERVATIONS 
UPON  THE   «  COUNCIL   OF  THE   VATICAN1 

BY 

ALFRED    OWEN    LEGGE 


PASSIAMO     PRESTO,     E     SULLA     PUNTA     DEI     PIEDI,     QUEL     MACCHIO     DI     FIMO 
E    DI    SANGUE    CHE     SI     CHIAMA    PAPATO.'— Guerrazzi. 


(university) 
macmillan  and  co. 

1870 

[All  rights  reserved] 


OXFORD: 

BY  T.  COMBE,  M.A.,  E.  B.  GARDNER,  E.  P.  HALL,  AND  H.  LATHAM,  M.  A. 
PRINTERS   TO    THE   UNIVERSITY. 


iu>( 


TO 


MY     MOTHER, 


THE    TEACHER    OF    MY     YOUTH, 

THE    TRIED    AND    FATTHFUL    COUNSELLOR 

OF   RIPER    YEARS, 

I      DEDICATE 


WITH  PROFOUND  AND  REVERENT  LOVE 

MY  FIRST  ESSAY 

IN  LITERATURE. 


&<?^S-/ 


UNIVERSITY 

California 
PREFACE. 


The  present  volume  has  no  pretensions  to  be  a  History  of  the 
Papacy.  That  great  subject,  as  a  whole,  has  been  ably  dealt  with 
by  numerous  writers ;  the  separate  aspect  which  is  here  presented, 
and  which  possesses  a  special  interest  at  the  present  time,  has  not, 
so  far  as  I  am  aware,  received  that  adequate  but  concise  treat- 
ment which  I  have  felt  to  be  a  want  in  popular  literature.  With 
great  diffidence  I  have  ventured  to  attempt  to  fill  this  gap. 

The  reader  will  therefore  not  find  here  much  that  he  would 
naturally  look  for  in  a  History  of  the  Papacy.  That  history, 
prolific  in  characters  uniting  with  every  degree  of  intellectual 
power  the  most  degrading  vices  or  the  most  sublime  piety,  has 
been  the  subject  of  occasional  side  glimpses ;  the  main  object 
proposed  being  to  present,  in  a  succinct  form,  the  processes  by 
which  the  primogenial  simplicity  and  unworldliness  of  the  early 
Christian  Church  have  been  exchanged,  under  the  fatal  influence 
of  a  worldly  ambition,  for  a  corrupt  and  idolatrous  faith,  a  tem- 
poral sovereignty,  and  a  lordship  over  the  human  conscience 
which  grows  with  the  advancing  years. 

I  do  not  affect  to  be  unacquainted  with  what  early  or  modern 
writers  have  contributed  to  history  on  this  subject.  Here  and 
there  I  have  drawn  freely  upon  these  valuable  resources.  But  in 
every  case  where  the  conclusions  of  other  writers  have  been 
accepted  I  have,  where  unacknowledged  in  the  usual  way,  at- 
tempted to  express  opinions  so  adopted  in  phraseology  of  my 
own,  and  claim  the  credit  at  least  of  independent  thought  and  a 
fair  amount  of  industrious  research.  Materials  for  my  work  have 
been  gathered  from  various  sources,  most  of  them  readily  ac- 
cessible. I  desire,  however,  to  make  special  acknowledgment 
of  the  courteous  assistance  which  I  have  received  on  several 
occasions  from  the  gentlemen  in  attendance  at  the  Reading 
Room  of  the  British  Museum.  Notwithstanding  this  valuable 
assistance,  I  have  found  not  a  little  of  the  labour  of  my  work  to 


Vlll  PREFACE. 


consist  in  extensive  reading,  which  has  only  been  ascertained  to 
be  useless  after  the  labour  has  been  performed. 

It  is  with  a  feeling  of  diffidence,  approaching  to  awe,  that  I 
now  offer  the  results  of  my  reading  to  the  public.  A  careful 
endeavour  to  avoid  diffuseness  in  the  narration  of  familiar  pas- 
sages of  history  has  consciously  exposed  me  to  the  danger  of 
superficiality.  In  so  far  as  this  danger  has  been  avoided,  the 
directness  and  compression  at  which  I  have  aimed  will,  I  believe, 
be  appreciated  in  this  intensely  practical  age. 

The  rapid  march  of  events  in  connection  with  the  so-called 
(Ecumenical  Council  might  induce  me  to  modify  some  of  the 
opinions  expressed  respecting  this  remarkable  phenomenon  ;  but 
where  the  scene  changes  so  unexpectedly  from  day  to  day,  I  have 
felt  it  imprudent  to  postpone  the  publication  for  the  sake  of  a 
more  confident  exposition  of  what  is,  after  all,  a  subsidiary  inci- 
dent of  my  narrative.  The  question  of  the  Fall  of  the  Papacy  is 
indeed  one  of  the  very  deepest  import ;  but  though  it  may  be 
precipitated  by  the  event  which  Pope  Pius  I X  believes  ordained 
of  God  for  its  full  development  and  glory,  the  real  causes  of  its 
decay  have  been  long  in  operation,  and  can  neither  be  eradicated 
nor  greatly  aggravated  by  the  foregone  conclusions  of  an  assem- 
bly, however  august,  without  freedom  of  debate  or  power  of 
administration,  and  sworn  to  ratify  the  decisions  of  him  who 
'  alone  receives  the  plenitude  of  power  neither  from  the  Apostles, 
nor  from  Councils,  but  immediately  from  Christ ! ' 


A.  O.  L. 


Fakenham  Grove,  Patricroft, 
March  19,  1870. 


(university) 

TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 
CHAPTER  I. 

The  subject  stated.  Dual  nature  of  government.  Temporal  sovereignty 
coveted  by  the  Pontiffs.  On  the  titles  '  Pope '  and  '  Pontiff.'  Abolition 
of  the  right  of  popular  election  of  the  Roman  Pontiff.  Foundation 
of  the  Christian  Church  in  Rome.  Relics  of  St.  Peter.  The  title  and 
office  of  Bishop.  And  of  Clergy.  Origin  of  the  Surplice.  Renuncia- 
tion of  secular  avocations  by  the  Clergy.  The  Primacy  of  St.  Peter 
unknown  to  the  early  Church.  The  Bishops  of  Rome  advance  their 
claims  to  supremacy.  .Spread  of  Chris1,ianity.  Baptism  of  Constantine. 
The  first  Christian  Church  a  Basilica.  Gifts  and  legacies  to  the  State 
religion  receive  legal  sanction.  The  Church  enriched  at  the  cost  of. 
right  and  justice.  Ulterior  objects  of  the  Bishops  of  Rome  in  the  acqui- 
sition of  landed  estates.  Struggle  for  supremacy  between  the  rival 
Churches  of  Rome,  Alexandria,  and  Constantinople.  Traditional  han- 
kering after  territorial  sovereignty  revived  in Gregory  the  Great.  Decay- 
ing power  of  the  Byzantine  Empire  In  Italy.  Recognition  of  the 
supremacy  of  the  Roman. Pontiff  by  the  Emperor  Phocas.  The  Incono- 
clastic  Controversy.  Gregory  II  withdraws  his  allegiance  from  the 
Emperor,,  .and  is  elected  by  the  Romans  to  be  their  temporal  ruler. 
Enters  into  "alliance  with  the  Frankish  Kings.  Pepin  subdues  the 
Lombards  and  transfers  the  conquered  territories  to  the  successors  of 
St.  Peter.  Papal  prerogatives  imperfectly  defined.  The  alleged  dona- 
tions of  Constantine p.  i 

CHAPTER    II. 

The  political  influence  of  the  Pontiff  extended  on  the  assumption  by 
Charlemagne  of  the  Imperial  dignity.  The  Synod  of  Frankfort.  The 
Decretal  Epistles.  Calamities  supervening  upon  the  dismemberment  of 
the  Empire.  Degradation  of  the  Papacy.  Otho  the  Great  employs 
measures  to  secure  his  legitimate  control  over  the  election  of  the 
Roman  Pontiff.  Commencement  of  the  struggle  between  the  Empire 
and  the  Papacy.  Deposition  of  JohnXII.  Conflicting  claims  of  the 
Emperor  and  the  Pope.  Effects  uporTtlie  Papacy  of  the  destruction  of 
the  Carlovingian  Dynasty.  JnjrnJfc-YJ  contests  with  Hugh  Capet  the 
superiority  of  the  Pope  over  a  Council.  Dissensions'ln  Rome.  Dis- 
cordant claims  of  Pope  and  Emperor.  Hildgbrand  resolves  to  free  the 
Popedom  from  its  subordination  to  the  Empire.  Persuades  Leo  IX  to 
submit  the  validity  of  his  claim  to  the  Tiara  to  the  free  decision  of  the 


CONTENTS. 


Romans.  Effects  an  alliance  with  the  Goths.  Transfers  the  right  of  Papal 
election  to  the  College  of  Cardinals.  Elected  Pope.  Henry  IV  takes 
umbrage  at  the  election  of  Hildebrand.  Grounds  of  hostility  between 
the  Emperor  and  the  Pope.  The  Celibacy  of  the  Clergy.  The  right  of 
Investiture.  Results  of  the  contest.  Death  p£  Gregory  VII.  Summary 
of  his  services  to  the  Papacy.  The  CoiMtess  Matilda.  Urban  II,  a.d. 
1088.     Cripples  the  power  of  the  Emperor  in  Italy         .     "'"".  — '    p.  28 

CHAPTER    III. 

Urban  II  and  the  Crusades.  Urban  continues  the  controversy  re- 
specting the  right  of  Investiture.  Calixtus  HI.  The  Concordat  of 
Worms.  Issue  of  the  controversy.  The  territorial  sovereignty  of  the 
Popes  called  in  question,  Adrian  IV.  The  development  of  the  spiritual 
Power  of  the  Papacy  synchronizes  with  the  decay  of  the  temporal 
Power.  Renewal  of  the  struggle  with  the  Empire.  Triumph  of  Pope 
Alexander  IH,  Condition  of  the  Papacy  at  the  accession  of  Tpnnr.pnt  JTT. 
His  imperious  policy,  and  its  effects  upon  the  status  of  the  political 
Papacy.  Innocent  III  was  the  practical  founder  of  the  Papal  States. 
Disputed  succession  to  the  Imperial  throne.  Innocent  excommunicates 
the  Emperor  Otho.  Death  of  Innocent.  Establishment  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion. The  prolonged  struggle  for  supremacy  destructive  of  the  power 
alike  of  Pope  and  Emperor.  Rudolph  elected  Emperor,  a.d.  1273. 
His  policy  towards  Rome.  Surrenders  the  disputed  bequests  of  the 
Countess  Matilda.  New  era  in  the  history  of  Papal  claims.  Independ- 
ence of  the  Empire  acquired  by  the  Papacy  destructive  of  the  ancient 
and  imposing  theory  of  Church  and  State.  The  free  Republics  of  Italy 
a  thorn  in  the  side  of  the  Papacy.  Schism  of  the  Eastern  Church. 
Disorders  in  Rome.  Quadruple  struggle  for  the  sovereignty  of  Rome. 
The  administrative  system  of  the  Papal  Court.  Guelphs  and  Ghibellines. 
The  Power  of  the  Papacy  extended  by  the  recognition  of  its  right  of 
arbitrament  in  the  feuds  by  which  Italy  was  torn.  Curious  complica- 
tions attending  the  elevation  of  Prince  Charles  to  the  Sicilian  throne. 
The  14th  and  15th  centuries  undistinguished  in  the  political  annals  of 
the  Papacy  p.  47 

CHAPTER    IV. 

Character  of  Boniface  VIII.  His  quarrel  with  Philip  IV.  Benedict 
XI,  a.d.  1303.  His  death  by  poison.  Philip  IV  secures  the  election  of 
Bernard  de  Got,  who  assumes  the  title  of  Clement  V,  His  subserviency 
to  Philip.  Transfer  of  the  Papal  residence  to  Avignon  Clement  grants 
Philip  a  tithe  of  the  Church  property  in  France.  The  contest  for 
supremacy  revived  on  the  accession  of  Henry  VII.  Growing  power  of 
the  Church.  The  Diet  at  Frankfort,  a.d.  1338,  disallows  her  presump- 
tuous claims.  Consequences  of  the  abandonment  of  Rome  by  the  Popes. 
Gregory  VI  returns  to  Rome,  a.d.  1376.  St.  Catherine  of  Sienna. 
Character  of  the  Pontiffs  of  the  14th  century.  Insurrection  in  Rome  on 
the  death  of  Gregory  XI.  State  of  the  city.  Contrasted  with  Imperial 
Rome.  The  populace  demand  the  election  of  an  Italian  Pontiff. 
Urban  VI.  Clement  VII,  Anti-Pope.  Commencement  of  the  Great 
Schism.     Distraction  of  Christendom.     The  dawn  of  light        .      p.  65 


CONTENTS.  XI 


CHAPTER   V. 

The  15th  century  a  transition  period.  Impatience  of  Europe  at  the 
prolonged  Schism.  Council  of  Pisa.  Three  rival  Popes.  Council  of 
Constance,  a.d.  1414.  Purpose  of  Sigismund  in  convening  the  Council. 
Its  imperfect  realization.  Widespread  infidelity.  Immorality  of  the 
Clergy.  The  Church  brought  back  under  one  Head.  Character  of 
Martin  V.  Declares  the  supremacy  of  the  Pope  over  a  Council.  Enters 
Rome  in  triumph,  a.d.  1421.  The  imperious  assumptions  of  Martin  re- 
open the  controversy  respecting  the  Papal  supremacy  over  a  General 
Council.  The  Council  of"  Basle,  a.d.  1431,  asserts  the  supremacy  of  a 
Council.  Deposition  of  Eugenius  IV.  Eugenius  summons  a  rival  Council 
at  Ferrara.  And  transfers  it  to  Florence.  The  Byzantine  Emperor 
declares  in  favour  of  the  Council  of  Florence  Disingenuous  conduct  of 
the  Pope.  Altercations  with  the  Greek  Clergy.  Equivocal  union  of  the 
Eastern  and  Western  Churches.  Universal  recognition  of  the  supre- 
macy of  the  Roman  Pontiff.  Proceedings  of  the  Council  of  Basle.  The 
Tiara  offered  to  Amadeus  the  Ex-Duke  of  Savoy.  Who  takes  the  title  of 
Felix  V.  The  last  Schism.  Felix  V.  resigns  the  Tiara.  The  Schism 
healed.  Pretensions  of  the  Pontiffs.  Exaltation  of  the  Papacy  under 
Nicholas  V.  Failure  of  the  Council  of  Basle  to  promote  ecclesiastical 
reforms.     The  Pontiffs  of  the  15th  century      .         .         .         .         p.  80 

CHAPTER    VI. 

Decrepitude  of  the  Papacy.  The  Church  presents  the  only  medium 
for  intellectual  distinction.  Rising  resentment  of  her  lordship  over  the 
human  conscience.  Julius  II,  a.d.  1503,  resuscitates  the  waning  glory  of 
the  Papacy.  His  absorbing  patriotism.  Political  complications.  The 
Council  of  Pisa.  The  Holy  League.  The  Council  of  the  Lateran. 
Reconciliation  of  Julius  with  Louis  XII.  The  League  of  Cambray. 
Vicissitudes  of  the  Venetian  Republic.  The  treachery  of  Julius  towards 
Alfonso,  Duke  of  Ferrara.     Complex  character  of  the  Pontiff     .     p.  98 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Leo  X,  a.d.  1513.  His  ambitious  projects,  Popularity  with  the 
Romans.  Charles  V  abolishes  the  practice  of  rendering  homage  to 
the  Pontiff.  The  Reformation.  The  nepotism  of  the  Popes  the  chief 
hindrance  to  the  consolidation  of  the  Papal  Power.  Unfavourable  influ- 
ence upon  the  national  aspirations  of  the  division  of  Italy  into  numerous 
petty  States.  Decline  of  the  Imperial  authority  in  Italy.  Inherent 
weakness  of  the  Papacy.  Clement  VII  glories  in  the  humiliation  of 
Italy.  Spread  of  the  Reformed  Faith.  The  Holy  Alliance.  The  Sack 
of  Rome.  The  Treaty  of  Cambray.  Coronation  of  Charles  V.  The 
temporal  sovereignty  of  the  Pope  confirmed.  Disputes  concerning 
Parma  and  Placentia.  Italy  again  the  theatre  of  War.  Paul  IV  refuses 
to  recognise  the  succession  of  Ferdinand  to  the  Imperial  throne.  Sup- 
ports the  French  in  attacking  Naples.  Ambitious  projects  of  the 
Guizes.  Alva  at  the  Gates  of  Rome.  Blind  superstition  of  Philip  II.  He 


tTNIVERsi'j 


Xll  CONTENTS. 


falters  at  the  threatened  exercise  of  the  spiritual  Powers  of  the  Church. 
Restores  the  Cities  taken  from  the  Pontiff.  Treaty  of  Cateau'  Cambresis, 
a.d.  1559.  The  Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew.  Sixtus  V  a  great  tem- 
poral Pope.  His  public  works.  And  foreign  policy.  The  liberty  of 
Italy  extinguished.  Decline  of  the  Papal  supremacy  in  Europe.  Sixtus  V 
mainly  concerned  for  the  aggrandizement  of  the  spiritual  power  of 
the  Papacy.    The  Papacy  not  susceptible  of  reform        .        .         p.  in 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  annals  of  the  Papacy  during  the  seventeenth  century  barren  of 
political  interest.  Urban  VIII,  a.d.  1623-1644.  His  objection  to  the 
Spanish  marriage.  Seeks  the  conversion  of  James  I  to  the  Catholic 
faith.  Threatening  attitude  of  Spain  and  France.  Richelieu  in  alliance 
with  the  Huguenots.  His  treachery.  Negotiates  a  peace  with  Spain. 
Urban  VIII  unites  the  two  Powers  in  a  league  against  England.  The 
projected  invasion.  Buckingham  commands  the  English  Squadron.  His 
Assassination.  Consequences  to  the  Huguenots.  The  Due  de  Nevers 
succeeds  to  the  Crown  of  Mantua.  Intriguing  policy  of  Urban  VIII. 
The  Thirty  Years'  War.  Resuscitation  of  the  struggle  for  supremacy 
between  the  Empire  and  the  Papacy.  Pusillanimity  of  the  leading 
actors  in  this  drama.  Causes  which  led  to  the  overthrow  of  the  prepos- 
terous claims  of  the  Papacy.  The  Italian  policy  of  Urban  and  its  results. 
His  melancholy  end.  The  Peace  of  Westphalia.  Continued  decay  of 
Papal  power.  The  Gallican  Church  asserts  its  independence  of  Rome. 
Indifference  of  Europe  to  the  Papal  Agony.  The  Peace  of  Utrecht.  The 
Quadruple  Alliance.  Limitation  of  the  power  of  Austria  in  Italy. 
Paramount  influence  of  France  in  the  States  of  the  Church.  Benedict  XIV. 
Clement  XIV.  Contrasted  characteristics  of  the  Pontiffs  and  the  secular 
rulers  of  Europe  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Voltaire,  p.  132 

CHAPTER   IX. 

The  purpose  of  Napoleon  in  encouraging  the  spirit  of  revolt  in  the 
Papal  States.  He  threatens  the  overthrow  of  the  Papal  power.  Obliges 
Pius  VI  to  purchase  an  ignominious  peace.  Dismemberment  of  the 
Papal  States  and  occupation  of  Rome  by  a  French  army.  Further 
humiliation  of  the  Papacy.  Pius  VI  taken  prisoner.  A  Republic  pro- 
claimed in  Rome.  Death  of  Pius  VI,  a.d.  1799.  The  French  driven 
from  Rome.  Election  of  Pius  VII.  Brighter  prospects.  Napoleon  re- 
solves upon  the  restoration  of  a  national  religion  in  France.  The  ideas 
of  •  religion  '  entertained  by  the  First  Consul.  Negotiations  with  Rome. 
The  Concordat.  The  Gallican  Church,  in  its  servility  to  Napoleon,  for- 
feits its  vaunted  liberties.  Napoleon  compels  the  Pope  to  sequestrate 
the  sees  of  the  Bishops  who  rejected  the  civil  constitution  of  the  French 
clergy.  The  way  thus  prepared  for  the  extension  of  Ultramontanism. 
Elation  of  the  Pontiff  at  the  conversion  of  France.  Napoleon  com- 
mences preparations  for  his  Coronation.  Cardinal  Consalvi  opposes  the 
solicitations  of  Napoleon  for  the  presence  of  the  Pontiff.  Napoleon  is 
too  powerful  to  be  thwarted.  His  ideas  concerning  the  proper  relation 
of  the  Church  to  the  State.     The  Coronation,  December  2,  1804.     Illu- 


CONTENTS.  Xlll 


sions  of  the  Pontiff.  Disingenuous  conduct  of  the  Emperor.  Asserts  his 
supremacy  as  Emperor  of  Rome.  Threatens  to  deprive  the  Pope  of  his 
temporal  sovereignty.  Dignified  attitude  of  Pius  VII.  The  forces  of  the 
Emperor  beleaguer  Rome.  Napoleon's  reasons  for  postponing  the  occu- 
pation of  Rome.  Formal  annexation  of  the  States  of  the  Church  to  the 
French  Empire.     Arrest  of  the  Pontiff  .         .        .         .        p.  150 


CHAPTER    X. 

Napoleon  offers  Pius  VII  the  appurtenances  of  a  Court  in  the  south 
of  France.  The  Pope,  declining  to  hold  intercourse  with  the  sacrile- 
gious monarch,  is  removed  to  Savona.  And  thence  to  Fontainebleau. 
Rome  is  declared  the  second  city  of  the  French  Empire.  The  object  of 
Napoleon  in  despoiling  the  Papacy  of  its  temporal  dominions.  Universal 
sympathy  extended  to  the  Pontiff.  Effects  of  his  rigorous  treatment. 
The  Pope  induced  to  sign  the  Concordat,  whereby  he  formally  renounced 
his  claims  to  temporal  sovereignty.  Napoleon's  triumph.  Pius  VII 
retracts  his  assent.  The  Emperor  proposes  his  liberation.  Napoleon's 
downfall  and  abdication.  Protestant  Powers  instrumental  in  the  rein- 
statement of  the  Pope  in  the  territorial  sovereignty.  Enthusiastic  recep- 
tion of  the  Pontiff  in  Italy.  His  conciliatory  disposition.  Restoration 
of  the  Papal  territory.  Grasping  spirit  of  the  Papacy  exemplified  in  the 
demands  of  Pius  VII.  Puerile  demonstrations  against  the  French  in 
Rome  and  Piedmont.  Hatred  of  Napoleon  shared  by  the  allied  Sove- 
reigns and  the  petty  rulers  of  Italy.  Hence  the  restoration  of  the  political 
Papacy.  Restoration  of  the  Order  of  the  Jesuits.  And  of  the  Holy  Office 
of  the  Inquisition.  The  States  of  the  Church.  Extension  of  the  power 
of  Austria  fatal  to  Italian  freedom.  Unlamented  decline  of  Papal  power. 
Pius  VII  unequal  to  the  emergencies  of  the  times  .        '.        p.  167 


CHAPTER  XIV 

State  of  society  in  the  Papal  States  under  the  recent  Popes.  Fatuitous 
obstinacy  of  Gregory  XVI  in  rejecting  the  counsel  of  the  great  Powers. 
Disaffection  of  his  subjects  and  consequent  disorganization  of  society. 
Election  of  Pius  IX.  A  reforming  Pontiff.  Enthusiasm  of  the  Romans. 
The  Priest  before  the  King.  The  Council  of  State.  Illusions  dispelled. 
Alienation  of  the  advanced  Liberals.  The  '  Moderates  '  adhere  to  the 
Pontiff.  Piux  IX  a  traitor  to  Italian  freedom.  Cardinal  Anton elli. 
Count  Rossi.  Flight  of  the  Pope.  The  Republic  proclaimed  in  Rome. 
Rivalry  for  the  honour  of  reinstating  the  Pope.  The  proffered  assist- 
ance of  Piedmont  declined.  The  distracted  condition  of  Austria  affords 
Louis  Napoleon  the  opportunity  of  securing  the  honour  to  France  Ex- 
cesses of  Republican  Demagogues  at  Leghorn.  Antonelli's  antipathy  to 
French  intervention.  General  Oudinot  disembarks  his  troops  at  Civita 
Vecchia.  Enters  Rome  on  29th  of  June,  1849.  Return  of  Pius  IX  to 
Rome.  Disaffection  of  the  people.  Dependence  of  the  Popedom  upon 
France.  Growth  of  the  Kingdom  of  Italy.  Schemes  of  Napoleon 
powerless  against  the  contagion  of  the  national  sentiment.     Invasion  of 


XIV  CONTENTS. 


H^» 


the  States  of  the  Church.  Garibaldi's  lofty  patriotism.  Annexation  of 
the  States  of  the  Church  to  the  Italian  Kingdom.  Aspromonte.  The 
Government  of  Pius  IX  wanting  in  all  the  elements  of  popularity. 
Government  by  Ecclesiastics  an  anachronism  in  the  nineteenth  century. 
Incompatible  with  the  freedom  and  unity  of  Italy.  Results  of  twenty 
years'  struggle  with  the  Revolution.  The  temporal  sovereignty  not  con- 
ducive to  the  dignity  of  the  Holy  See,  or  to  the  interests  of  Catholic 
Christendom p.  182 


CHAPTER   XII. 

Injurious  effects  of  the  French  occupation  of  Rome.  The  Pontifical 
Sovereignty  dependent  upon  French  protection.  Probable  effects  of  the 
loss  of  the  temporal  Power  upon  the  Popedom  itself.  Increase  of  the 
Papal  armaments.  The  CEcumenical  Council.  The  inordinate  preten- 
sions of  the  Papacy  exhibit  the  danger  to  the  peace  and  unity  of  Italy 
involved  in  its  prolonged  existence  as  a  temporal  Power.  The  tenacious 
grasp  of  temporal  Sovereignty  threatens  the  destruction  of  the  Papacy. 
Napoleon  declared  the  temporal  Power  to  be  fatal  to  religion.  M. 
Rouher's  '  Never.'  Pius  IX  deposed  by  the  French.  Louis  Napoleon 
anxious  to  withdraw  from  the  embarrassing  position  consequent  upon 
French  intervention.  Hostility  of  the  Papacy  to  the  enfranchisement  of 
the  human  mind.  Its  influence  extended  by  its  intolerant  presumptions. 
Based  on  the  accepted  principle  of  authority.  Illustrated  in  the  posi- 
tion of  Dr.  Newman.  And  in  the  servility  of  the  Catholic  press. 
Characteristics  of  the  Roman  Church.  Credulousness  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  laity.  Increasing  influence  of  the  Papacy.  How  explained. 
Romanism  attractive  to  the  morbid  and  the  sentimental.  The  sufferings  of 
Pius  IX  have  awakened  a  universal  sympathy.  Excesses  of  sympathy. 
'  Pius  the  Great.'  The  growth  of  Papal  assumptions.  Their  probable 
effect  upon  the  Papacy.  The  Council.  Objects  of  Pius  IX  in  convening 
a  General  Council.  The  'brief  and  compendious  rule.'  Infallibility 
claimed  by  Pius  IX  when  elected  Pope.  And  after  his  restoration  in  1849. 
Why,  then,  is  a  Council  necessary  to  declare  it  ?  Characteristics  of  the 
ast  Councils  of  the  Church p.  198 


CHAPTER   XIII. 


Considerations  upon  the  Council.  Its  constitution.  Devoid  of 
organic  continuity  with  its  predecessors.  The  early  Councils.  First 
recognition  of  the  infallibility  of  General  Councils.  Convened  by  the 
Emperors.  Co-equal  rights  of  the  Pope  and  the  Episcopate.  The 
Council  of  Nicea.  The  attitude  assumed  by  Constantine.  The  first 
Council  of  Constantinople.  The  Councils  of  Ephesus  and  Chalcedon. 
The  Quinisextine  Council.  The  second  Council  of  Nicea.  The  first 
seven  Councils  summoned  by  the  Emperors.  Gradual  usurpation  of 
the  right  by  the  Pope  of  Rome.  The  Council  of  Lyons.  The  second 
Council  of  Constantinople.  The  Council  of  the  Vatican  not  CEcumenical. 


CONTENTS.  XV 


Essential  conditions  of  (Ecumenicity.  An  CEcumenical  Council  'has 
become  a  chimera/  Protestants  not  invited.  The  invitations  to  the 
Eastern  Church.  The  verdict  of  posterity.  Attitude  assumed  by  the 
lay  Catholic  Powers.  Organizing  of  the  Pope's  opposition.  The  pro- 
test of  Austria  against  the  21  Canons.  Count  Daru's  despatch.  The 
French  claim  to  representation  in  the  Council.  Antonelli's  reply. 
Unanticipated  protraction  of  the  Council.  Motives  assigned  for  its 
convocation.  Their  inadequateness — how  explained.  The  theory  of 
Pius  IX.  Proceedings  of  the  Council  veiled  in  secresy.  Parties  in  the 
Council.  Threatened  secession.  The  preponderance  of  Italian  bishops 
a  ground  of  protest.  Analysis  of  the  Council  as  a  representative 
assembly.  Is  the  opposition  '  melting  like  snow  in  the  glance  of  Pio 
Nono  ? '  Anticipated  docility  of  the  Fathers  not  realized.  Means 
adopted  to  commit  the  bishops  beforehand  to  the  dogma  of  Papal 
infallibility.  Early  indications  of  divergent  opinions.  And  of  resolute 
opposition.  Undaunted  firmness  of  the  Pope.  Measures  adopted  for  the 
suppression  of  the  opposition.  The  Anti-Infallibility  address.  Protest 
of  German  and  Hungarian  bishops.  One-half  of  the  members  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  represented  by  the  opposition.  Irritation  of 
the  Pontiff.  Desperate  attempts  of  the  Infalliblists  to  silence  the  oppo- 
sition and  recover  lost  ground.  The  Catholic  world  placed  on  the 
defensive      .         .        . p.  212 


CHAPTER    XIV. 

Range  of  observations  proposed.  Unlimited  pretensions  of  the 
Roman  Curia.  Opinion  of  the  Civilta  Cattolica  upon  the  validity 
of  civil  laws  contrary  to  the  decrees  of  the  Council.  The  dogma 
of  the  Temporal  Power.  Its  definition  improbable.  Its  discussion 
a  strategical  art  of  the  Curia.  The  connection  between  the  Tem- 
poral and  Spiritual  Estate  'prescribed  by  the  law  of  God.'  The 
assumption  of  the  Virgin.  The  Syllabus.  Remonstrances  of  Louis 
Napoleon.  Duple  reply  of  Rome.  The  alleged  consistency  of  the 
Pope  in  adhering  to  the  principles  avowed  in  1846.  Will  France 
withdraw  her  claims  to  representation  in  the  Council  ?  The  Tablet^ 
on  the  claims  of  France.  The  propositions  of  the  Syllabus  designed 
to  secure  to  the  Ultramontanes  the  retention  of  their  present  power.' 
Papal  Infallibility.  Reason  assigned  for  its  definition.  Spirit  of  inde- 
pendence developing  in  the  Council  and  in  Catholic  countries.  Delusive 
promises  of  freedom  of  debate.  The  Abbe  Laborde.  New  regulations. 
The  Schema  Constitutionis  de  Ecclesia  Christi.  The  21  Canons.  Upon 
whom  do  the  curses  of  the  Church  descend?  The  lay  Sovereigns 
of  Europe,  whilst  conceding  liberal  constitutions,  cannot  countenance 
Roman  intolerance.  Article  of  the  Schema  defining  Infallibility.  Infal- 
libility not  a  new  doctrine  in  the  Roman  Church.  A  fundamental 
question.  Having  a  political  as  well  as  a  religious  aspect.  The  alleged 
necessity  of  a  Council  to  propound  dogmas  suggests  the  fallibility  of  the 
head  of  the  Church.  Infallibility  involves  supremacy.  Fallibility  versus 
Infallibility.  France  and  Austria  opposed  to  the  fanatical  pretensions  of 
the  Ultramontanes.    Will  Italy  regain  her  capital  ?  Effects  of  the  supre- 


XVI  CONTENTS. 


macy  involved  in  Infallibility.  Objects  of  the  Council  re-stated.  •  Terrible 
Revolutions'  predicted  by  the  Civiltd  Cattolica.  The  dogma  of  Papal 
Infallibility  fraught  with  danger  to  the  Church.  How  received  in  Spain. 
In  Switzerland.  In  Germany.  Dr.  Sepp's  address  to  the  Vatican 
Council.  Father  Hyacinthe's  letter.  The  protest  of  Count  Montalem- 
bert.  The  fascinating  influence  of  this  doctrine.  The  impulse  given  by 
the  Council  to  the  spirit  of  inquiry.  The  probable  effect  upon  Christen- 
dom of  a  dogma  disannulling  the  decrees  of  earlier  Councils.  Abroga- 
tion of  the  famous  canon,  Quod  semper  etc.  Illimitable  spiritual  power  of 
an  infallible  Pontiff.  Severe  testing  of  the  fabric  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church.  The  teachings  of  Popery.  The  response  of  Christendom  to 
the  Papal  challenge.  Insufficiency  of  the  reasons  assigned  in  the  Syllabus 
for  the  convocation  of  a  General  Council.  Characteristics  of  Pius  IX. 
Archbishop  Manning's  definition  of  'modern  civilization.'  The  prin- 
ciples of  authority  and  of  the  right  of  private  judgment  in  conflict. 
Triumph  of  light  over  darkness p.  254 


■:#•##■€:■ 


THE    TEMPORAL    POWER    OF    THE 
PAPACY. 

CHAPTER    I. 

The  temporal  power  of  the  Roman  Church  is  at 
the  present  time  a  subject  of  engrossing  interest  to 
every  thoughtful  mind.  Viewed  either  as  an  Italian 
or  as  a  religious  question,  it  involves  principles  which 
demand  the  attention  alike  of  the  politician  and  the 
Christian  in  every  land,  and  which  passing  events 
surround  with  a  special  interest. 

I  propose  briefly  to  trace  the  development  of  that 
power  through  the  ages  in  which  the  Church  has  been 
successively  subject  to  the  Roman  Emperors,  the 
Ostrogoth  kings  of  Italy,  the  Eastern  Roman  Emperors, 
and  lastly  to  France. 

Everywhere,  and  in  all  time,  history  exhibits  com- 
munities of  men,  living  under  the  constant  influence 
of  two  orders  of  things.  These,  whether  we  call  them 
civil  and  ecclesiastical,  human  and  divine,  political  and 
religious,  or  Church  and  State,  are  just  the  expression 
of  man's  own  dual  nature,  and  are  as  inseparable  as 
body  and  soul.  Inseparable,  and  yet  distinct,  they 
each  exercise  a  beneficent  influence  upon  the  other, 
and  a  combined  and  potent  effect  upon  society,  in 
proportion  as  the  distinct  mission   of  each,  and  its 

B 


2  THE   TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP, 

harmonious  but  independent  modes  of  operation,  are 
clearly  recognized.  Such  is  not  the  theory  of  the 
Roman  Church.  Trampling  upon  the  eternal  law  of 
love,  of  which  it  claims  to  be  the  infallible  exponent,, 
this  Church  has  struggled  through  long  ages,  and  with 
untiring  energy,  for  the  acquisition  and  retention  of 
political  power,  which  it  has  with  equal  consistency 
perverted  into  spiritual  despotism. 

For  a  thousand  years  the  temporal  has  been  associated 
with  the  spiritual  power  of  the  Papacy,  and,  since  the 
arrogant  assertion  of  Hildebrand,  cThe  Pope  is  the 
sun,  the  Emperor  the  moon  which  shines  with  borrowed 
light/  it  has  remained,  though  not  unchallenged,  a 
cardinal  feature  of  Papal  rule.  Allied  to  the  spiritual 
power  of  the  Pontiff,  it  is  held  to  have  conferred  a 
dignity  and  lustre  upon  the  Court  of  Rome  to  which 
no  secular  power  could  aspire,  and  to  have  justified  the 
exclamation  attributed  to  a  successor  of  Hildebrand, 
c  How  profitable  hath  this  fable  of  Christ  been  unto  us.5 

Of  the  titles  Pope  and  Pontiff,  by  which  the  supreme 
head  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  is  usually  desig- 
nated, it  may  be  remarked  that,  until  the  time  of 
Gregory  VII,  the  title  of  Pope,  cPapa,'  was  given  to 
all  bishops  alike.  This  title,  which,  amongst  other 
fantastical  explanations,  has  been  derived  from 
c  Poppcea/  from  the  proverbially  short  life  of  each 
Pope;  from  cPa/  for  pater  j  or  again,  cPa'  (Paul), 
and  c  Pe '  (Peter)  ;  from  c  Papos '  (keeper) ;  and 
1  Pappas '  (chief  slave)  \  signified  then,  as  it  does  still 
in  our  own  language,  Father,  and  was  applied  indiffer- 
ently to  every  teacher.  Gradually  the  title  came  to  be 
applied  specially  to  bishops,  and  as  in  process  of  time 

1  Dean  Stanley's  '  Eastern  Church.' 


I.]  OF   THE  PAPACY. 


it  grew  yet  more  restricted  in  its  signification,  if  not 
in  its  use,  the  bishop  to  whom  it  was  pre-eminently 
applied  was  not  the  bishop  of  Rome,  but,  as  we  shall 
presently  see,  of  Alexandria.  The  Patriarchs  of  the 
Eastern  Church  retained  this  title  until  near  the  close 
of  the  eleventh  century ;  that  is,  for  as  long  a  period  as 
it  has  since  been  specially  applied  to  the  Pope  of  Rome. 
It  was  not  until  a.d.  1076,  that  Gregory  VII  decreed 
that  it  should  be  thenceforward  ascribed  to  none  but 
the  Roman  cPapa,'  prefixing  at  the  same  time  a 
c  sanctus,'  whence  came  the  modern  style  c  His  Holi- 
ness the  Pope,'  though  the  word  then  signified  nothing 
more  than  c  Reverend,'  and  is  thus  preserved  in  the 
English  Church,  in  the  title  c  Most  Reverend  Father  in 
God/ 

In  the  Eastern  Church,  the  same  title,  c  Papa '  (Pater 
patrum),  was  employed  to  designate  the  Primate.  Down 
to  the  time  of  Heraclas,  a.d.  230,  the  Bishop  of 
Alexandria,  being  the  sole  Egyptian  bishop,  was  called 
cAbba'  (Father),  and  his  clergy  c  Elders.'  From  his 
time  more  bishops  were  created,  who  then  received  the 
title  of  Abba,  and  consequently  cPapa/  cthat  strange 
and  universal  mixture  of  familiar  endearment  and  of 
reverential  awe,  extended  in  a  general  sense  to  all 
Greek  Presbyters  and  all  Latin  Bishops,  was  the  special 
address  which,  long  before  the  names  of  Patriarch  or  of 
Archbishop,  was  given  to  the  head  of  the  Alexandrian 
Church1.'  It  is  curious  to  note  that  in  the  Roman 
Church  the  word,  in  its  original  signification — Father — 
/  continues,  as  at  the  first,  to  be  applied  to  all  holding 
the  office  of  teacher  or  priest ;  whilst  its  Syriac  equiva- 
lent, cAbba,'  now  applied  to  the  heads  of  monastic 
1  Dean  Stanley's  '  Eastern  Church.' 
B  2 


4  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

institutions,  has  never  been  appropriated  by  the  Bishop 
of  Rome. 

The  title  c  Pontiff,'  derived,  not  from  the  Jewish 
High  Priest,  but  from  the  Roman  Emperors,  carries  us 
back  to  those  days  of  'muscular  Christianity3  when 
work,  which  conduced  to  the  public  weal,  was  inti- 
mately associated  with  religion.  The  cPontifexMaximus5 
was  a  high  Pagan  dignitary  who  lived  in  a  public 
residence  at  the  north-east  corner  of  the  Palatine,  the 
chief  of  the  College  of  Pontiffs,  or  c  Bridgebuilders  g 
and  the  Bishop  of  Rome  received,  through  the  emperors, 
the  title  of c  Pontifex,'  because  entrusted,  amongst  other 
duties,  with  the  construction  and  repair  of  bridges. 
Thus  Milton,  picturing  Satan  as  building  a  bridge  over 
chaos  to  get  to  this  planet,  calls  it  c  a  work  pontificial  V 
Under  the  old  Roman  constitution,  everything  pertain- 
ing to  religion  was  placed  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
College  of  Augurs,  an  institution  which  the  Caesars 
took  almost  entirely  into  their  own  hands;  Augustus 
and  his  successors  to  the  time  of  Constantine,  as  Presi- 
dents of  the  College,  assuming  the  title  of  Pontifex 
Maximus.  The  duties  of  the  office  were  to  conduct  all 
public  sacrifices ;  to  inflict  the  punishment  of  death  by 
scourging  upon  any  who  insulted  the  Vestal  Virgins; 
to  preside  at  the  assemblies  and  games ;  to  witness  the 
religious  ceremonies  of  marriage ;  and  to  arrange  the 
calendar2.     Thus  the  very  name  which  expresses  the 

1  Dr.  Griesinger  gives  posse  et  facere — to  do  and  to  be  able — 
as  the  derivation  of  this  title,  and  adds  that  the  ancient  Romans 
had  a  kind  of  ministry  of  public  worship,  the  president  of  which 
was  entitled  Pontifex  Maximus.  In  either  case  the  Christian 
Popes  assumed  the  heathen  title  without  any  compunction  as  to 
its  origin. 

2  Dean  Stanley. 


l]  of  the  papacy.  5 

highest  ecclesiastical  character  of  the  Roman  Pontiff, 
exhibits  the  secular  origin  of  his  primacy. 

Until  the  close  of  the  ninth  century  the  Popes  were 
elected  by  the  people.  The  popular  right  of  election 
was  abolished  by  Hildebrand,  who  transferred  it  to  the 
.  College  of  Cardinals,  less  numerous  then  than  now, 
although  the  number  varied  with  the  will  of  the  Pontiff, 
until  Sixtus  V  limited  it,  as  Ranke  informs  us,  to 
seventy;  cas  Moses  chose  seventy  elders  from  the 
whole  nation,  to  take  council  with  them  j'  or  perhaps, 
as  affirmed  by  other  Roman  Catholic  historians,  that 
being  the  number  of  Christ's  disciples. 

The  Christian  Church  in  Rome  was  founded  by  the 
Apostle  Paul  during  his  two  years'  imprisonment  in 
that  city.  It  is  unnecessary  to  enter  into  the  contro- 
versy respecting  the  claims  of  the  Apostle  Peter  to  this 
honour ;  for,  however  strongly  tradition  may  affirm  the 
claim,  the  fact  of  his  ever  having  visited  Rome  rests 
upon  tradition  alone.  It  is,  at  least,  very  singular  that 
no  reference  is  made  to  an  event  of  so  much  importance 
to  those  who  claim  to  be  regarded  as  his  spiritual 
successors,  either  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  which 
record  so  many  of  his  journeys,  or  in  any  of  the 
Christian  writers  of  the  first  two  centuries.  The  only 
passage  in  the  writings  of  this  Apostle  from  which  the 
fact  can  be  deduced  \  would  identify  the  seat  of  the 
Papacy  as  the   spiritual   Babylon, — a  means  of  proof 

1  i  Peter  v.  13.  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  both  Protestant  and 
Roman  Catholic  partizans  have  insisted  that  '  Babylon,'  whence 
St.  Peter  dates  his  first  Epistle,  was  only  a  metaphorical  name  for 
the  metropolis  of  heathendom ;  the  former  from  a  wish  to  identify 
the  Roman  Church  with  the  Babylon  of  Revelation ;  the  latter 
in  order  to  establish  the  connection  between  the  Roman  Church 
and  the  Apostle  to  whom  our  Lord  committed  the  keys. 


6  THE   TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

upon  which  the  Roman  controversialist  would  probably 
not  insist.  Many  relics  of  this  Apostle  are  still  shown, 
and  receive  the  adoration  of  the  faithful  in  Rome,  such 
as  the  chains  he  wore  during  his  incarceration;  a 
portion  of  his  fishing-net,  originally  believed  to  have 
been  kept  in  the  cloisters  at  Westminster;  his  bones 
and  teeth ;  his  toe-nails,  which  at  one  time  were  so 
abundant  it  is  said  they  would  have  filled  a  sack ;  the 
.pillar  upon  which  he  suffered  martyrdom ;  and,  to 
complete  the  catalogue,  one  of  his  bulls  is  still  extant ! 
His  head  also, — we  must  suppose  whole  and  entire, 
since  it  is  the  head,  and  not  a  fraction  of  it,  which 
is  adored  in  each  fane, — reposes,  encased  in  silver,  at 
St.  Peter's,  St.  John's  of  Lateran,  and  again  at 
St.  Praxedes 1.  Less  absurd  are  these  than  many  of  the 
innumerable  relics  of  the  saints  which  enrich  every 
church  in  Rome ;  such  as  the  chemise  of  the  Holy 
Virgin,  the  swaddling-clothes  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
and  the  three  thorns  of  the  crown  of  thorns,  which 
close  inspection  has  shown  to  be  made  of  iron;  and 
less  revolting  than  c  the  phial  full  of  milk  of  the  most 
blessed  Virgin  Mary;'  and  again,  ca  phial  full  of  the 
precious  blood  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.'     Until  the 

1  With  the  exception  of  St.  Matthew  and  St.  Thomas,  all  the 
Apostles,  with  many  of  the  first  Christian  martyrs,  have  left 
behind  them  at  least  two  bodies,  which  are  preserved  and 
venerated  in  divers  parts  of  Christendom.  *  Sainct  Matthew  and 
Sainct  Thomas/  says  Calvin,  '  have  remayned  the  most  poorest.' 
After  his  crucifixion,  the  remains  of  St.  Peter  are  said  to  have 
been  placed  in  the  catacombs  of  the  Vatican,  whence  they  were 
afterwards  transferred  to  the  church  of  St.  Sylvester.  In  the 
middle  of  the  fourth  century  the  body  was  divided,  one-half  being 
remitted  to  its  original  resting-place,  and  the  other  deposited 
in  the  church  of  S.  Paolo  fuori  le  Mura. 


I.]  OF   THE   PAPACY.  J 

latter  part  of  the  seventh  century  the  seat  used  by  the 
chief  of  the  Apostles  was  conspicuous  amongst  these 
relics;  but  unfortunately,  in  \66i,  the  chair  needed 
repair,  when,  on  the  removal  of  the  outer  covering,  an 
elaborately  carved  image  of  the  Labours  of  Hercules 
was  discovered,  revealing  the  truth,  unwelcome  as  it 
was  unexpected,  that  it  had  been  made  in  honour  of  a 
heathen  divinity !  Notwithstanding  this  exposure,  the 
faithful  still  view,  with  awe-stricken  reverence,  the- 
indent  in  the  rock  against  which  one  of  the  soldiers, 
whilst  conducting  the  Apostle  to  his  dungeon,  struck 
his  head,  proving  it  the  sterner  stuff.  The  impression 
is  guarded  by  an  iron  grating,  above  which  is  the 
appropriate  inscription — prodigio.  The  marble  slab  upon 
which,  as  an  altar,  St.  Peter  said  mass,  and  another 
bearing  the  impress  of  the  Saviour's  feet,  and  comme- 
morating the  alleged  fact  of  his  having  arrested  the 
Apostle  in  his  attempted  flight  from  Rome,  apparently 
fail  to  suggest  the  enquiry  whether  the  Roman  highways 
were  indeed  paved  with  marble  (which  the  Romans  did 
not  adopt  in  their  architecture  until  after  the  fall  of 
Sicily),  or,  if  so,  why  the  imprint  of  a  footstep  remains, 
where  all  the  traffic  of  old  Rome  has  failed  to  leave  a 
trace  behind. 

The  President,  or  Chief  Elder  of  the  Church,  early 
received  the  title  of  Episcopus.  This  title,  however 
illustrious,  and  consequently  coveted,  invested  him  with 
no  peculiar  prerogative,  but  was  employed  simply  to 
distinguish  him  from  his  colleagues  in  office.  Its 
nearest  anti-type  in  the  present  age  is,  perhaps,  to  be 
found  amongst  the  Dissenters  of  this  country— as  in 
the  c  Chairman '  of  the  Congregational  Union ;  the 
'  Moderator '  of  the  Presbyterian  Synod ;  or  the  '  Presi- 

(UNIVERSITY, 


8  THE   TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

dent '  of  the  Wesleyan  Conference.  The  office,  however, 
was  in  all  probability  a  permanent  one.  This  we  infer 
from  the  title,  c  Angel  of  the  Church/  employed  in  the 
Apocalyptic  letters.  We  shall  presently  see  that  this 
broad  ground  of  the  Christian  equality  of  all  the  chief 
pastors  of  the  Church,  was  not  lost  sight  of  until  the 
close  of  the  sixth  century,  when  a  bishop,  canonized  by 
the  Roman  Church,  cited  the  words  of  Christ  to  show 
the  impiety  of  a  claim  to  supremacy,  or  to  the  posses- 
sion of  authority  transmitted  from  St.  Peter, — a  figment 
not  referred  to  in  the  canons  of  the  earlier  councils,  or 
in  the  writings  of  the  early  Christian  centuries.  The 
co-equality  of  the  early  Christian  Churches,  and  of  their 
chief  pastors,  is  unimpeachably  evidenced  in  that 
invaluable  document,  the  first  Epistle  of  St.  Clement  to 
the  Corinthians,  a.d.  70.  The  opening  paragraph, 
c  The  Church  of  God  at  Rome,  to  the  Church  of  God 
at  Corinth,'  frankly  recognizes  the  fact,  as  yet  unques- 
tioned, of  perfect  equality.  St.  Clement  attempts  to 
exercise  no  authority,  nor  to  assert  any  degree  of 
superiority,  and  c  most  singularly  for  a  Roman  bishop, 
in  speaking  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  he  names  St.  Peter 
first,  indeed,  but  passes  briefly  over  him,  to  enlarge 
with  far  more  emphasis  and  exaltation  upon  St.  Paul, — 
as  if  St.  Paul  had  really  been  the  principal  founder  of 
the  Roman  Church,  and  St.  Peter  merely  his  associate  V 
The  Chief  Elder  of  the  Church  at  Rome,  upon  whom 
a  merely  honorary  precedence  had  been  conferred,  not 
one  of  peculiar  privilege — much  less  of  universal  juris- 
diction—soon came  to  be  regarded  with  distinguished 
reverence  by  the  provincial  communities.    And,  indeed, 

1  See   Appendix   to   Lord   Lindsay's  '(Ecumenicity   and  the 
Church  of  England.' 


I.]  OF   THE  PAPACY. 


the  honour  was  a  perilous  one,  and  the  men  who  suffi- 
ciently prized  the  service  of  the  Church  to  accept  it, 
were,  during  the  first  two  centuries,  worthy  of  the 
reverence  which  was  voluntarily  accorded  them,  but 
which,  as  time  advanced,  they  did  not  hesitate  by 
deliberate  and  strenuous  efforts  to  court,  and  upon 
occasion  to  demand.  Such  reverence  seriously 
endangered  the  spiritual  equality  which  distinguished 
the  members  of  the  new  faith.  And  so  it  came  to  pass, 
that  the  honour  voluntarily  accorded  to  individual 
bishops  for  their  piety,  virtues,  and  courage,  was,  by 
degrees,  claimed  as  properly  due  to  the  episcopal  office 
itself;  until,  in  the  third  century,  the  claim  of  the 
bishops  to  be  regarded  as  God's  peculiar  priesthood  or 
portion — Kkrjpos — as  distinguished  from  the  common 
people — Acuos — secured  to  them  the  distinctive  title  of 
clergy.  A  distinctive  dress  was  also  adopted,  and  its 
use  enforced  under  a  penalty  of  a  month's  confinement, 
on  a  diet  of  bread  and  water.  Probably,  however,  the 
dress,  like  that  of  the  Friends  in  our  own  country, 
became  distinctive  only  inasmuch  as  it  was  permanent, 
and  did  not  accommodate  itself  to  an  ever-changing 
fashion ;  for  the  white  gown,  which  has  always  been 
the  ordinary  dress  of  the  Popes,  was,  in  fact,  the 
common  costume  of  the  early  Christians — the  common 
classical  dress  of  all  ranks  in  Roman  society.  To  this 
costume  c  the  early  Christians  adhered  with  their  usual 
tenacity,  partly  to  indicate  their  cheerful,  festive 
character,  as  distinct  from  mourners,  who  went  in 
black ;  partly  to  mark  their  separation  from  the  peculiar 
black  dress  of  the  philosophical  sects,  with  which  they 
were  often  confounded  V     In  this,  and  as  Dean  Stanley 

1  Dean  Stanley. 


IO  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

has  shown  \  in  a  vast  variety  of  customs,  some  of 
them  of  great  interest  in  their  bearing  upon  the 
religious  controversies  of  the  present  day,  the  Pope 
alone  preserves  the  practices  of  primitive  Christianity, 
which  have  perished  on  all  sides  of  him.  The  intro- 
duction of  the  tonsure  was  probably  not  anterior  to  the 
sixth  century.  Before  the  close  of  the  third  century, 
secular  avocations  were  wholly  renounced,  and,  whilst 
the  severance  between  the  clergy  and  the  laity  became  " 
every  year  more  distinctly  marked,  tokens  of  respect 
toward  the  former  were  not  only  voluntarily  accorded, 
but  positively  required  by  ecclesiastical  law  », 

The  Chief  Elder  of  the  Church  at  Rome  claimed 
special  dignity  from  the  position  of  that  city  as  the 
metropolis  of  the  civilized  world;  from  the  fact  of  its 
alleged  Apostolic  foundation,  and  of  its  being  the  mother 
church  of  nearly  all  the  provincial  communities. 

The  figment  of  Apostolic  descent  was,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  the  invention  of  a  later  era.  No  such 
claim  to  supremacy  was  affirmed  by  the  Roman 
Presbyter,  or  Episcopus,  in  the  ante-Nicene  period. 
However  early  the  tradition  of  the  martyrdom  of 
St.  Peter  at  Rome  may  have  been  received,  it  is  certain 
that  the  churches  of  the  first  four  centuries  were  igno- 
rant of  his  alleged  primacy,  and  authority  over  the 
other  Apostles,  and  likewise  of  the  transmission  of 
that  authority  to  his  successors. 

The  simplicity  of  the  Bishops  of  Rome  was  corrupted 
by  their  increasing  authority ;  the  pride  of  precedence 
early  begot  a  lust  for  power,  and  they  suffered  no  op- 
portunity for  asserting  their  supremacy  to  pass  unim- 

1  'Good  Words/  1868. 

2  Riddle's  '  History  of  the  Papacy.' 


I.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  II 

proved.  So  early  as  the  close  of  the  second  century,  in 
a  controversy  respecting  the  day  upon  which  Easter 
should  be  observed,  Victor,  then  Bishop  of  Rome, 
threatened  to  refuse  to  hold  communion  with  those 
Churches  of  Asia  which  proclaimed  the  duty  of  cele- 
brating the  mystery  of  the  Resurrection  of  our  Lord 
only  on  the  day  of  the  Lord.  He  did,  in  fact,  publish 
letters  declaring  the  heterodoxy  of  all  such.  Yielding, 
however,  to  the  unanimous  desire  of  the  Asian  bishops, 
and  the  eloquent  pleading  of  Irenseus, — whose  character 
as  a  peace-maker  so  well  answered  to  his  name, — that 
he  would  not  occasion  schism  in  the  Church  of  Christ 
upon  a  subject  respecting  which  Polycarp,  who  himself 
had  observed  the  sacrament  with  the  Apostle  John,  had 
left  the  Church  a  conspicuous  example  of  toleration, 
he  withdrew  them  *.  The  failure  of  his  unworthy  efforts, 
whilst  it  evinces  the  rising  spirit  of  the  Papacy,  estab- 
lishes the  fact  that  at  this  time  the  Bishop  of  Rome 
was  not  regarded  as  the  universal  head  of  the  Churchy 

The  unity  of  the  Empire  favoured^  the  spread  of 
Christianity,  and  the  persecution  of  its  early  professors, 
who  went  everywhere  preaching  the  word,  secured  its 
extension,  and  had  already  conferred  upon  it  a  firm 
organization.  The  constancy  of  faith,  and  the  purity 
of  life,  which  marked  the  adherents  to  Christianity, 
contrasting  with  the  superstitions  and  abominations  of 
Paganism,  gradually  brought  the  latter  into  contempt. 
Constantine  professed  himself  a  Christian,  and  as  the 
Emperors  had  always  presided  over  the  Pagan  system, 
and  had  found  it  an  important  engine  of  State,  the 
same  patronage  was  now  transferred  to  Christianity 2. 

The  conversion  to  Christianity  of  the  Emperor  Con- 
1  Eusebius.         2  '  Compend.  of  Univ.  Hist.,'  Jarrold  and  Sons. 


12  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

stantine  marked  an  important  era  in  the  history  of  the 
Christian  Church.  Although  prompted  by  motives  of 
policy,  rather  than  by  religious  conviction,  or  a  genuine 
moral  sympathy,  his  baptism  at  the  hands  of  Sylvester, 
the  then  bishop  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  was  fraught 
with  momentous  consequences.  c  Many  judge  of  Con- 
stantine,' says  Niebuhr,  cby  too  severe  a  standard, 
because  they  regard  him  as  a  Christian ;  but  I  cannot 
look  upon  him  in  that  light.  The  religion  which  he 
had  in  his  head  must  have  been  a  strange  jumble 
indeed  .  .  .  He  was  a  superstitious  man,  and  mixed  up 
his  Christian  religion  with  all  kinds  of  absurd  super- 
stitions and  opinions.  When  certain  Oriental  writers 
call  him  cc  equal  to  the  Apostles,"  they  do  not  know  what 
they  are  saying,  and  to  speak  of  him  as  a  saint  is  a 
profanation  of  the  word.'  Constantine  himself  appears 
to  have  been  sufficiently  alive  to  the  fact.  Believing 
that  complete  purification  could  only  be  once  obtained 
through  baptism,  he  deferred  the  ceremony  which  should 
give  him  a  right  to  the  continuance  of  that  prosperity 
in  a  future  life  which  he  had  enjoyed  in  the  present,  to 
the  last  moment  that  was  consistent  with  perfect 
security  *.  It  was  the  settled  policy  of  Constantine  to 
make  the  service  of  the  Church  more  profitable  than' 
that  of  the  State.  He  accordingly  showed  a  singular 
fertility  of  resource  in  devising  means  whereby  men  of 
rank  and  influence  were  induced  to  enter  the  Church  as 
a  profession.  It  is  worthy  of  notice,  in  passing,  that 
the  introduction  of  lights  in  the  Christian  worship  is 
attributable  to  Constantine.  Originally  they  were  no 
part  of  the  ceremonial — no  c  essential '  representation 

1  '  History  of  the  Intellectual  Development  of    Europe,'  by 
Dr.  J.  W.  Draper,  2  vols.  8vo. 


I.]  OF    THE  PAPACY.  1 3 

of  doctrine,  The  display  of  lights  was  a  heathen 
custom,  and  was  adopted  by  Constantine,  not  as  an 
emblem,  but  for  the  purpose  of  attracting  the  heathen 
to  the  Christian  worship. 

Through  the  influence  of  courtly.example  and  patron- 
age, the  despised  sect  now  became  rich  and  powerful. 
No  patriarch  had  as  yet  enjoyed  more  than  an  honorary 
supremacy,  and  the  right  of  the  Emperor,  in  virtue  of 
his  office  as  Pontifex  Maximus,  to  intermeddle  in  re- 
ligious affairs  was  readily  conceded.  The  clergy, 
c  preaching  the  duty  of  passive  obedience  now,  as  it 
had  been  preached  in  the  days  of  Nero  and  Diocletian, 
were  well  pleased  to  see  him  preside  in  councils,  issue  ' 
edicts  against  heresy,  and  testify,  even  by  arbitrary 
measures,  his  zeal  for  the  advancement  of  the  faith  and 
the  overthrow  of  Pagan  rites  V 

Constantine,  by  his  own  munificence,  enabled  the 
Christians  to  restore  their  edifices,  which  had  been 
destroyed  during  the  persecution  under  Diocletian,  and 
the  property  of  many  heathen  temples  was  made  over 
to  the  Church.  Not  a  few  of  the  existing  churches  in 
Rome  claim  the  first  Christian  Emperor  for  their 
founder.  The  most  distinguished  of  these  is  St.  Peter's, 
the  site  of  which  tradition  affirms  to  be  the  spot  on 
which  the  Apostle  suffered  martyrdom.  The  Lateran, 
an  imperial  palace,  was  also  granted  to  the  Christians 
as  an  episcopal  residence, — the  first  c  patrimony  of 
St.  Peter's.5  It  is  a  significant  fact  that  the  origin  of 
the  Papal  power,  which  has  always  relied  for  support 
upon  the  weapons  of  this  world,  was  thus  purely  secular. 
The  first  church  was  not  a  temple,  but  a  c  Basilica,' — 
a  Roman  court  of  justice,  accommodated  to  the  pur- 
1  'The  Holy  Roman  Empire,'  by  James  Bryce,  B.C.L. 


14  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

poses  of  Christian  worship.  c  If  the  Pope/  says  Dean 
Stanley,  c  were  to  be  regarded  only  as  the  successor  of 
St.  Peter,  his  chief  original  seat  would,  of  course,  be  in 
the  Basilica  of  St.  Peter,  over  the  Apostle's  grave.  But 
this  is  not  the  case.  St.  Peter's  Church,  in  regard  to 
the  Pope,  is  merely  a  chapel  of  gigantic  proportions, 
attached  to  the  later  residence  which  the  Pope  opened 
under  the  Vatican  Hill.  His  proper  see  and  cathedral 
is  the  Basilica  of  St.  John  cc  in  the  Lateran,"  that  is,  in 
the  Lateran  palace,  which  was  the  real  and  only 
bequest  of  Constantine  to  the  Roman  Bishop  ...  In  it 
accordingly  is  the  true  Pontifical  throne,  on  which  are 
written  the  words  H<ec  est  papalis  sedes  et  pontificalis. 
Over  its  front  is  inscribed  the  decree  Papal  and  Im- 
perial, declaring  it  to  be  the  mother  and  mistress  of  all 
churches.  In  it  he  takes  possession  of  the  See  of  Rome 
and  of  the  government  of  the  Pontifical  States.' 

By  the  celebrated  edict  of  Constantine,  a.d.  321,  gifts  1 
and  legacies  to  the  State-religion  received  legal  sane-  , 
tion.  They  immediately  poured  in  abundantly  from 
every  quarter,  begetting  a  thirst  for  wealth,  which  was 
constantly  stimulated  by  the  success  of  the  artifices 
through  which  it  was  secured.  We  have  the  authority 
of  one  of  the  most  prominent  of  contemporary  clergy- 
men in  the  English  establishment,  for  stating  that  the 
reign  of  Constantine  was  the  beginning  of  the  decline 
of  Christianity  in  spiritual  things,  quite  as  much  as  it 
was  the  beginning  of  its  rise  in  temporal  grandeur. 
An  early  ecclesiastical  writer  informs  us  that  the  Roman 
clergy  c  made  it  their  special  business  to  be  duly  in- 
formed of  any  noble  ladies,  widows  especially,  who 
may  be  accessible  to  "pious  influences,"  such  ladies 
would  then  receive  no  lack  of  ecclesiastical  visitors ; 


I.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  1 5 

and  if  one  of  the  good  fathers  greatly  admired  any  of 
the  household  appurtenances,  or  pretty  jewels  of  the 
mistress,  what  could  she  do  but  beg  him  to  accept,  in 
the  name  of  the  faith,  the  trifle  which  had  found  favour 
in  his  eyes/  Nor  did  the  clergy  scruple  to  commend  to 
such  as  betrayed  an  unwillingness  to  part  with  their  pos- 
sessions, the  example  of  the  devout  Christians  who  had 
shown  themselves  c  accessible  to  pious  influences.' 

c  The  ignorance  and  superstition  of  the  times,'  re-  1/ 
marks  the  author  of  the  c  Universal  History,'  already 
quoted,  c  favoured  the  claims  of  the  priesthood,  and  as 
the  efficacy  of  gifts  for  the  expiation  of  offences  was  a 
principle  generally  admitted  in  the  Dark  Ages,  liberal 
donations  of  land  and  other  property  augmented  their 
power  and  influence,'  whilst  they  laid  the  foundation  of 
the  temporal  sovereignty  of  the  Popes.  The  property 
of  orphans  was  shamefully  tampered  with,  and  no 
wealthy  penitent  was  suffered  to  die  in  peace  at  Rome, 
until  the  Church  was  assured  of  a  large  share  of  his 
possessions.  Thus,  at  the  close  of  the  fourth  century, 
the  Bishop  of  Rome  c  lived  in  a  dignity  and  pomp 
much  more  befitting  a  wealthy  and  luxurious  earthly 
potentate,  than  a  spiritual  teacher  and  shepherd  of 
souls.  The  choicest  viands,  the  richest  vestments,  the 
rarest  steeds  for  his  chariots,  a  crowd  of  servile  attend- 
ants to  do  his  bidding ;  a  bishop's  staff  summoned  all 
these  things  into  existence  for  the  holder,  whose  court 
almost  vied  with  the  Emperor's  own.  We  can  scarcely 
be  surprised  that  the  governor  of  Rome,  who  was  still 
attached  to  the  old  faith,  replied  when  his  conversion 
was  attempted,  "Make  me  bishop  of  Rome,  I'll  turn 
Christian  directly1."'  Contemporary  writers  concur 
1  'The  Mysteries  of  the  Vatican,' by  Dr.  Theodore  Griesinger. 


1 6  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

in  their  testimony,  that  this  wealth  had  been  almost 
wholly  procured  through  the  devout  offerings  of  the 
noble  dames  of  Rome;  or  wrung  from  wealthy  peni- 
tents on  their  death  bed,  by  the  exercise,  on  the 
part  of  the  priesthood,  of  an  arrogated  authority,  en- 
forced by  harrowing  appeals  to  morbidly  excited  con- 
sciences. Therein  lay  the  vital  germ  of  Papal  wealth. 
c  The  Roman  bishops  enriched  themselves  at  the  cost 
of  right  and  justice,  by  the  hands  of  their  female 
penitents,  who,  amid  the  luxury  and  immorality 
of  the  fast  collapsing  Western  Empire,  had  often  a 
heavy  list  of  sins  to  atone,  and  were  but  too  ready 
to  make  their  peace  with  heaven,  when  earth  had 
no  more  pleasures  to  offer,  by  a  liberal  bribe  to  the 
Church.' 

But  a  new  ambition, — in  comparison  with  which 
gold  and  costly  jewels,  and  even  ecclesiastical  supre- 
macy, however  prized,  were  as  nothing, — was  already 
looming  upon  the  horizon  of  the  Roman  Bishops.  The 
patronage  of  the  sovereigns,  whose  kingdoms  were  of 
this  world,  was  a  good  thing;  but  the  union,  in  the 
sacred  person  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  of  the  representa- 
tive upon  earth  of  Him  whose  kingdom  is  not  of  this 
world,  with  royal  prerogatives,  and  a  temporal  sove- 
reignty, whose  lustre,  derived  from  the  double  source 
of  spiritual  and  secular  jurisdiction,  should  eclipse  the 
glory  of  every  other  government  upon  earth,  was  an 
object  worthier  of  ambition.  From  the  middle  of  the 
fourth  century,  when  religion  had  given  place  to  the- 
ology,  and  Christendom  was  absorbed  in  controversies, 
the  inevitable  issue  of  the  futile  decisions  of  Coun- 
cils, this  object  was  persistently  kept  in  view.  The 
acquisition   of  lands   was   more    eagerly   sought,   and 


I.]  OF    THE  PAPACY.  1 7 

there  is  abundant  evidence  that  when  these  were  not  | 
attainable  either  by  gift  or  legacy,  recourse  was  had  to 
forged  wills  and  fraudulent  title-deeds.  But  these  pos- 
sessions remained  the  private  property  of  the  Church,  and 
conferred  no  rights  of  temporal  sovereignty.  They 
were,  however,  valued  for  the  influence  which  always 
attaches  to  the  possession  of  landed  estates,  and  which 
must  at  length  become  overwhelming  when  they  are 
held  by  a  corporation  which  may  always  receive,  and 
can  never  alienate;  which  is  always  renewing  itself, 
and  can  never  die. 

The  history  of  this  period  is  the  record  of  the  struggle 
for  supremacy  of  the  three  great  sees — of  Rome,  Alex- 
andria, and  Constantinople.  In  this  contest  Rome 
possessed  all  the  advantages  accruing  from  the  prestige 
conferred  by  historical  associations,  and  a  precedence 
which  was  universally  conceded ;  whilst  the  removal  of 
the  seat  of  empire  to  Constantinople  had  relieved  her 
from  that  imperial  observation  and  control  to  which  1/ 
the  rival  Churches,  weakened,  moreover,  by  their  own 
intense  rivalry,  were  more  immediately  exposed. 

The  supremacy  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  first,  though 
unsuccessfully  asserted,  a.d.  109,  in  the  controversy 
respecting  Easter,  appears  to  have  been  recognized  in 
numerous  appeals  from  distant  Churches  throughout  the 
second  and  third  centuries.  Advantage  was  taken  of  the 
corruptions  and  dissensions  which  prevailed,  to  proceed 
from  giving  advice  to  interference  in  the  arrangement 
of  the  affairs  of  those  Churches,  chiefly  in  Italy,  which 
thus  appealed  to  the  authority  of  Rome.  The  Papacy, 
it  has  been  well  said,  cis  a  worm  which  breeds  in 
spiritual  corruption,  and  fattens  upon  Christianity  when 
turning  to  decay.' 


1 8  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

The  supremacy,  so  pertinaciously  asserted,  was  not 
suffered  to  remain  unimpugned.  At  the  Council  of 
Carthage,  a.d.  254,  St.  Cyprian  boldly  affirmed  that  the 
precedence  conceded  to  the  Roman  Bishop,  on  account 
of  the  political  position  of  his  see,  did  not  imply  the 
recognition  of  any  authority  over  Christians  out  of  his 
own  diocese.  c  None  of  us,3  he  said, c  ought  to  set  himself 
up  as  a  bishop  of  bishops,  or  pretend  tyrannically  to 
restrain  his  colleagues.3  By  degrees,  however,  Rome 
emerged  from  this  equality.  Hitherto  the  bishops  of 
Rome  had  not  aspired  to  the  exercise  of  either  of  the 
three  powers — the  legislative,  the  administrative,  nor 
the  judicial — which  are  the  proper  attributes  of  sove- 
reignty. The  first  opportunity  for  attempting  to  assert 
the  latter  was  afforded  by  the  Council  of  Sardica,  a.d. 
343.  In  their  zeal  for  carrying  their  point  against  the 
favourers  of  Arian  tenets,  the  bishops  were  willing  to 
sacrifice  even  their  own  independence,  and  invested 
the  Pope,  Julius,  with  the  character  of  universal  umpire 
or  judge  ],  authorized  cto  appoint  judges  for  a  bishop; 
in  the  second  instance  to  hear  the  cause  on  the  spot, 
with  the  assistance  of  a  Roman  legate,  and,  in  the 
event  of  a  further  appeal,  to  pronounce  sentence  him- 
self - .'  Both  the  Eastern  and  the  African  Churches, 
however,  protested  against  c  this  arrogant  claim,'  nor 
had  it  any  practical  effect,  until  the  fabrication  of  the 
Isidorian  Decretals  imparted  to  it  an  important  and 
dangerous  significance. 

The  controversies  which  rent  the  Church  during  the 
fifth  century  were  constantly^  referred  tothearbitration 
of  the  Roman  See^    It  was  in  vain  that,  at  the  Council 

1  Riddle's  '  History  of  the  Papacy.' 

2  '  The  Pope  and  the  Council,'  by  Janus. 


I.j  OF   THE  PAPACY,  1 9 

of  Chalcedon,  a  canon  was  passed  to  the  effect  that  the 
supremacy  of  the  Roman  See  was  not  in  right  of  its 
descent  from  St.  Peter,  but  because  it  was  the  bishopric 
of  an  imperial  city.  The  Church  which  teaches  the  in- 
fallibility of  the  decisions  of  Councils,  and  pronounces 
them  binding  upon  the  conscience  of  Christendom, 
hesitated  not  to  refuse  her  recognition  of  the  validity 
of  a  canon  hostile  to  her  pretensions ;  and  her  supre- 
macy became  more  and  more  distinct. 

The  divisions  between  the  Eastern  and  Western 
Churches,  arising  out  of  matters  essentially  frivolous, 
often  placed  the  Popes  in  an  embarrassing  position. 
Their  power  and  wealth  continued  to  increase,  not- 
withstanding j  and  at  the  close  of  the  sixth  century  the 
Pope  was  the  richest  landowner  in  the  Peninsula. 
Appealing  to  the  undefined  traditions  of  antiquity,  to 
the  religious  superstitions  of  the  age,  and  to  the  un- 
questionably great  services  which  the  bishops  had 
rendered,  in  the  protection  of  Rome  from  successive 
barbarian  invasions,  the  Pontiffs  contrived  to  increase 
their  influence,  and  to  invest  it  with  a  superstitious  awe. 

The  imperious  mind  of  Gregory  (the  Great),  a  man  of 
no  ordinary  gifts,  and  the  last  true  Roman  Pastor, 
chafed  under  the  humiliating  vassalage  in  which  he 
stood  to  the  decaying  Byzantine  Empire.  He  craved 
the  long-coveted  possession  of  sovereignty,  which  he 
believed  to  be  within  his  grasp,  if  he  dare  but  put  forth 
his  hand  and  seize  the  prize.  To  Gregory,  however, 
we  can  appeal  for  an .  authoritative  refutation  of  those 
Roman  Catholic  historians  who,  in  their  zeal  to  estab- 
lish the  original  supremacy  of  the  Roman  See,  affirm 
that  it  was  generally  recognized  at  a  much  earlier  date. 
In  the  year  588  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople  claimed  ( 

~  OP  THE 

UNIVERSITY 


20  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER 


CHAP. 


for  himself  and  his  See  a  pre-eminence  both  in  power 
and  holiness.  In  reply,  Gregory  published  a  vigorous 
protest,  in  which  these  significant  words  occur, — cThis 
I  declare  with  confidence,  that  whoso  designates  him- 
self cc  Universal  Pastor,"  or,  in  the  pride  of  his  heart, 
consents  to  be  so  named,  he  is  the  forerunner  of  Anti- 
Christ  Ka  Again,  quoting  the  words  of  Christ,  cCall 
no  man  your  father  on  earth,3  he  adds, — c  What  then, 
dearest  brother,  will  you  say  in  that  terrible  trial  of  the 
coming  Judge,  when  you  have  sought  to  be  called  by 
the  world  not  only  Father,  but  General  Father  ? ' 

The  determined  resistance  of  Gregory  to  the  preten- 
sions of  the  See  of  Constantinople  has,  by  some  historians, 
been  assigned  to  a  jealous  fostering  of  the  generally  re- 
cognized supremacy  of  his  own  See.  In  this  view  I  find 
it  impossible  to  concur.  The  moderation  of  his  pre- 
tensions in  the  exercise  of  his  spiritual  functions  con- 
trasts strangely  with  his  ambitious  schemes  for  exalting 
the  Papal  office  by  the  union  of  temporal  power  with 
his  spiritual  jurisdiction.  But  the  fact  is  there,  attested 
by  unimpeachable  evidence  running  through  the  thirteen 
years  of  his  anxious  and  active  Pontificate.  c  Peter,  the 
prince  of  the  Apostles,5  he  says,  c  never  assumed  to  be 
universal  bishop.  O  tempora !  O  mores  !  In  considera- 
tion of  the  primacy  of  Peter,  that  title  was  offered  to 
the  Bishop  of  Rome  by  the  synod  of  Chalcedon ;  but  be 
it  far  from  every  Christian  heart  to  admit  of  a  title  so 
blasphemous/  Again,  in  a  letter  to  the  Patriarch  of 
Alexandria,  this  Pontiff,  whom  the  Church  has  signally 
honoured  by  according  to  him  the  title  of  c  Great/ 
and  the  honour  of  canonization,  made  use  of  these  words, 
which  we  commend  to  the  Infalliblists  now  assembled 
1  '  The  Eighteen  Christian  Centuries/  by  Rev.  J.  White. 


I.]  OF    THE  PAPACY.  ■     21 

in  Rome, — c  You  say  that  you  have  obeyed  my  com- 
mands. Pray  do  not  use  such  expressions.  I  issue  no 
commands.  I  know  myself  and  you ;  you  are  my  brother, 
and  I  only  recommend  what  seems  to  me  good  for  the 
Church.  You  give  me  the  title  of  Universal  Bishop, 
which  dishonours  me  in  diminishing  the  dignity  of  the 
order  to  which  I  belong.  You  know  it  was  offered  to 
my  predecessors  by  the  Council,  but  none  of  them 
would  accept  it.5  It  must,  however,  be  admitted  that 
in  the  exercise  of  the  spiritual  jurisdiction  which  he 
conceived  to  belong  to  his  See,  c  in  virtue  of  the  autho- 
rity of  the  prince  of  the  Apostles,  Peter/  Gregory  not 
unfrequently  infringed  the  moderation  of  his  claims. 
His  Pontificate  was  distinguished  for  the  promotion  of  ' 
ecclesiastical  rites  and  ceremonies ;  for  the  enforcement, 
with  a  strictness  amounting  to  severity,  of  ecclesiasti- 
cal discipline;  and  pre-eminently  for  his  missionary 
spirit,  in  illustration  of  which  the  mission  of  Augustine 
to  this  country  will  suggest  itself  to  the  reader. 

The  greater  part  of  the  Peninsula  was  at  this  time 
subject  to  the  Byzantine  Empire,  and  was  governed  by    " 
Exarchs  from  Constantinople.     Their  position  was  in- 
vidious.    Deriving   little   assistance   from   the   power 
which  they  represented,  and  which,  after  a  succession  of 
feeble  monarchs,   was  tottering  to  its  fall,  they  were 
constantly  exposed  to  the  danger  of  aggression  on  the  \y 
part  of  their  vigorous  neighbours,  the  Lombards.    This 
position  of  affairs  afforded  Gregory  the  desired  oppor- 
tunity.    He  offered  the  Emperor  both  money  and  men  J 
to  check  the  movement,  already  initiated  by  the  Lom- 
bard king,  to  unite  all  Italy  under  his  sceptre ;  the  con- 
dition imposed  being  that  Gregory,  now  styled  the  Pope, 
should  be  invested  with  the  full  legal  jurisdiction  of  his 


21  THE   TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

landed  possessions,  and  with  the  right  of  presentation 
to  all  civil  offices  within  the  patrimony  of  the  Church. 
His  death,  a.d.  604,  occurred  whilst  the  negotiations 
were  in  progress.  In  the  same  year,  Phocas  was  raised 
to  the  imperial  dignity  by  an  insurrection  in  the  army. 
Without  committing  himself  to  a  recognition  of  the 
claims  of  the  late  Pontiff  to  civil  jurisdiction  within 
the  territories  now  belonging  to  the  Church,  he  acknow- 
ledged those  of  Sabinian,  the  successor  of  Gregory,  to 
ecclesiastical  supremacy.  Henceforward  the  Bishops  of 
Rome  were  regarded  as,  beyond  dispute,  the  ultimate 
depositories  of  authority  concerning  all  matters  and 
persons  ecclesiastical— a  position  long  coveted  and  still 
alleged  to  have  been  divinely  bestowed.  History,  how- 
ever, points  to  the  man,  whom  she  also  describes  as 
c  a  monster  of  vice,'  as  the  bestower  of  this  pretended 
supremacy,  and  of  cthe  diadem  of  gold/  the  first  in 
order  of  the  three  crowns. 

The  iconoclastic  strife  brought  matters  to  a  crisis. 
The  worship  of  images  had  become  so  prevalent  that 
the  Emperor  Leo  attempted  its  forcible  suppression. 
Gregory  the  Second  strenuously  supported  the  idolatrous 
practice,  and,  in  727,  withdrew  his  allegiance  from  the 
Emperor,  whilst  the  Romans  unanimously  elected  him 
their  temporal  as  well  as  spiritual  ruler.  The  die  was 
now  cast.  No  Pontiff  heretofore  had  headed  a  purely 
political  movement ;  but  Gregory  boldly  dissolved  the 
ties  which  bound  him  to  the  Emperor;  and  the  prize 
for  which  the  Roman  Bishops  had  longed,  and  vainly 
diplomatized,  for  four  hundred  years,  was  grasped. 
The  triumph  did  not  afford  unmixed  satisfaction.  The 
exasperated  Emperor  retaliated  by  violently  wresting 
from  the  Papal  See  the  rich  patrimonies  scattered  over 


I.J  OF   THE  PAPACY.  2$ 

the  Peninsula  and  Sicily,  undeterred  by  the  proud  self- 
consciousness  which  inspired  Gregory  II  to  protest  that, 
by  all  the  nations  of  the  West,  he  was  regarded  as  a 
God  upon  earth.  A  more  fatal  result  to  the  Church 
was  the  loss  of  that  unity  which  had  been  so  firmly 
secured.  She  had  substituted  for  the  pastoral  superin- 
tendence of  her  First  Elder,  deliberating  in  council 
with  his  brethren  of  other  Churches,  the  despotic  rule  of 
an  absolute  temporal  sovereign,  claiming  privileges  and 
rights  alien  to  the  spiritual  interests  of  the  Church — to 
its  early  traditions,  and  to  the  profound  convictions  of 
its  most  distinguished  prelates. 

Convinced  of  the  folly  and  peril  of  leaning  for  sup- 
port upon  a  power  which  had  so  often  betrayed  them, 
Gregory  and  his  successors  entered  into  alliances  with 
the  Frankish  monarchs.     With  the  most  barefaced  de- 


fiance of  all  political  morality,  Pope  Zacharias,  who 
succeeded  to  the  chair  of  St.  Peter,  a.d.  741,  sanctioned, 
for  his  own  worldly  advantage,  the  act  of  violence  and 
usurpation  by  which  Pepin  appropriated  the  crown  of 
Childeric.  This  was  the  first  occasion  upon  which  the 
Holy  See  had  been  invoked  as  an  International  Power ;  / 
and  it  was  an  ill-omened  employment  of  its  newly-ac- 
quired rights.  Pope  Zacharias  crowned  Pepin  king  of 
the  Franks,  and  the  king  proclaimed  the  successors  of 
St.  Peter  sovereign  Pontiffs,  and  lords  of  the  city  and 
territories  of  Rome.  The  Bishop  of  Rome  became  the 
sovereign  of  a  temporal  kingdom,  which  must  hence- 
forward be  supported  by  the  same  methods  and  arts 
whereby  secular  governments  are  everywhere  main- 
tained. The  complex  organization  of  the  Roman  Curia 
was  the  work  of  ages,  but  it  had  its  nucleus  in  that  fatal 
act  whereby  the  ecclesiastical  and  political  administra- 


24  THE   TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

tion  of  the  Papacy  became  so  intertwined  that  the  har- 
monious working  of  the  system  was  for  ever  at  an  end. 

The  Western  Church  was  now  freed  from  its  sub- 
serviency to  the  Empire  of  the  East;  but  now  also 
began  that  connection  between  Rome  and  France, 
which  has  proved  fruitful  of  so  much  misery,  and 
which  remains,  after  eleven  centuries,  the  insoluble 
problem  of  European  politics;  whilst  the  prolongation 
of  the  French  occupation  is,  in  the  present  state  of 
Italy,  an  insult  to  that  renovated  country.  More  than 
this,  it  is  a  danger  to  Europe,  and  a  source  of  weak- 
ness to  France,  whose  ruler  thus  proclaims  his  recanta- 
tion of  the  noble  principles  in  defence  of  which,  in 
early  youth,  he  took  up  arms  and  witnessed  the  heroic 
death  of  his  brother  fighting  against  a  Pope  for  the 
liberties  of  Italy. 

Zacharias  was  succeeded  by  Stephen  II,  who,  through 
the  aggressions  of  the  Lombards,  and  the  apparent 
indifference  of  Pepin,  was  in  no  small  danger  of  losing 
all  that  his  predecessor. had  acquired.  Pepin,  however, 
found  it  convenient  to  allay  the  misgivings  which  some 
tender  consciences  among  his  subjects  entertained,  con- 
cerning the  legitimacy  of  his  title  to  the  Gallic  crown. 
For  this  purpose  he  sought  absolution  from  the  Pope 
for  his  perjury  to  Childeric ;  undertaking  in  return  to 
subdue  the  Lombards  and  secure  the  safety  of  Rome. 
This  done,  he  returned  to  France,  when  the  Lombards, 
under  their  King  Aistulph,  again  marched  upon  Rome. 
Stephen  despatched  three  embassies  in  succession,  im- 
ploring Pepin  to  return  and  croot  out  these  lawless 
devils,  the  Lombards.'  The  last  embassy  carried  an 
autograph  letter  from  St.  Peter,  written  expressly  for  this 
occasion,  and  which  is  still  in  existence,  though  we 


1.]  OF    THE   PAPACY.  2$ 

have  no  record  of  the  manner  of  its  conveyance  from 
Paradise  to  the  Pope.  The  letter,  a  fabrication,  which 
for  strangeness  and  audacity  has  never  been  exceeded, 
is  written  in  Latin,  and  runs  thus: — c Pepin,  the 
princes  his  sons,  the  Frankish  nobility,  and  the  Frank- 
ish  nation,  in  the  name  of  the  Holy  Virgin,  the  thrones, 
dominions,  and  powers  of  heaven,  in  the  name  of  the 
army  of  martyrs,  of  the  Cherubim  and  Seraphim, 
of  all  the  hosts  gathered  round  the  throne,  and  under 
threat  of  utter  damnation,  not  to  let  his  peculiar  city 
Rome  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  hell-brand  Longobards.' 
There  was  little  ground  for  apprehension  of  any  critical 
examination  of  this  extraordinary  document  at  the  war- 
like court  of  Pe£in,  who  of  course  obeyed  the  behest. 
His  army  once  more  crossed  the  Alps,  and  repelled  the 
encroachments  of  the  Lombards ;  and  true  to  the  re- 
ligious motives  which  had  prompted  him  to  undertake 
the  expedition,  he  transferred  the  recovered  territories 
to  the  successors  of  St.  Peter.  With  his  own  hands 
Pepin  deposited  on  the  tomb  of  the  Apostle  the  deed  by 
which  they  were  surrendered  to  him  and  his  successors; 
thus  establishing  a  valid  claim  to  St.  Peter's  powerful 
intercession  for  the  Divine  forgiveness  of  his  unjust 
seizure  of  the  Frankish  kingdom.  A  portion  of  southern 
Tuscany  was  also  secured  to  the  Church;  and  Pepin 
received  from  the  Pope  the  title  of  c  Protector  of  Rome 
and  of  the  Roman  See/  But  although  Pepin  laid  the 
keys  of  the  conquered  towns  upon  the  altar  of  St.  Peter's, 
by  which  act,  says  Ranke,  c  he  laid  the  foundation  of 
the  whole  temporal  power  of  the  Popes,'  the  latter  could 
exercise  no  real  authority  in  them.  The  revenues  of 
the  lands  were  theirs ;  the  supreme  authority  over  them 
was  retained  by  the  Frankish  kings,  and  the  limits 


2,6  THE    TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

between  the  Imperial  and  Papal  authority  were  never 
very  distinctly  drawn. 

It  was  long  affirmed  by  the  authorities  of  the  Romish 
Church,  that  these  territories  were  originally  presented 
to  the  Roman  Bishops  by  Constantine  l*  There  was  a 
time  when  to  doubt  this  assertion  was  a  grave  theo- 
logical error,  only  to  be  atoned  by  the  severest  penal- 
ties ;  and  some  of  the  earliest  martyrs  to  Roman 
intolerance,  were  those  whose  heresy  consisted  in 
questioning  the  genuineness  of  Constantine's  alleged 
donation.  Even  Dante  believed  the  fable,  and  wrote 
in  the  bitterness  of  his  noble,  pious  heart :  — 

'  Ah !  Constantine ;  to  how  much  ill  gave  birth, 
Not  thy  conversion,  but  those  rich  domains 
That  the  first  wealthy  Pope  received  of  thee ! ' 

But  this  attempt  to  ante-date  the  temporal  sovereignty 
of  the  Popes  is  now  universally  acknowledged  to  be 
opposed  to  historical  fact2.     The   Christian   Church, 

1  The  famous  '  Donation  of  Constantine'  was  a  forgery  concocted 
at  Rome  in  the  middle  of  the  eighth  century.  '  The  forgery,'  says  the 
author  of  'The  Pope  and  the  Council,'  'betrayed  its  Roman  author- 
ship in  every  line  ;  it  is  self-evident  that  a  cleric  of  the  Lateran 
Church  was  the  composer.  The  document  was  obviously  intended 
to  be  shown  to  the  Frankish  king,  Pepin,  and  must  have  been  com- 
piled just  before  754.  Constantine  relates  in  it  how  he  served  the 
Pope  as  his  groom,  and  led  his  horse  some  distance.  This  induced 
Pepin  to  offer  the  Pope  a  homage,  so  foreign  to  Frankish  ideas, 
and  the  Pope  told  him  from  the  first  that  he  expected,  not  a 
gift,  but  restitution  from  him  and  his  Franks.'  The  object  of 
this  forgery  was  to  establish  the  right  of  the  Popes,  as  the  suc- 
cessors of  the  Roman  Caesars,  to  the  territory  of  all  Italy. 

2  If  the  forthcoming  CEcumenical  Council  executes  the  pro- 
gramme of  which  we  have  already  the  official  intimation,  it  will 
undertake  the  correction  of  hitherto  prevalent  estimates  of  history, 


I.]  OF    THE  PAPACY.  27 

however,  had  become  essentially  ca  kingdom  of  this  I 
world/     Its    doctrines   were    corrupted;    its   worship 
was  mere  ceremonial ;  its  ministers  were  a  c  sacrificing 
priesthood/  and  its   chief  elder  a  sovereign  Pontiff. 
The  Roman  Church  had  become  the  Roman  Court. 

and  it  will  again  become  heresy  to  question  the  alleged  donation 
of  Constantine. 


CHAPTER    II. 


The  assumption  of  the  Imperial  dignity  by  Char- 
lemagne, and  the  re-establishment  of  the  Western 
Empire,  confirmed  and  extended  the  ecclesiastical 
supremacy  and  the  political  influence  of  the  Roman 
Pontiff.  The  undisputed  possession  of  territorial 
sovereignty  was  still  delayed  •  the  Bishops  of  Rome, 
in  common  with  all  other  bishops,  receiving  confirma- 
tion in  their  office  from  the  Emperor,  who  regarded 
them  still  in  the  light  of  subjects. 

The  infallibility  of  the  Pope,  in  matters  of  faith, 
was  far  from  being  universally  recognized,  notwith- 
standing the  reverential  and  even  servile  language  in 
which  it  had  long  been  the  custom  with  all  bishops  to 
approach  him.  The  support  accorded  by  Gregory  II  and 
his  successors  to  the  doctrines  of  the  second  Nicene 
Council  concerning  image  worship,  had  begotten  a 
widespread  aversion  to  the  Pontiff's  claims  to  infallible 
dictation,  and  a  reluctance  to  acknowledge  his  supre- 
macy over  all  the  Churches  of  the  West.  The  decrees 
of  the  second  Council  of  Nicsea  were  condemned  by 
the  Synod  convened  by  Charlemagne,  at  Frankfort, 
whose  deliberations  were  conducted  under  the  personal 
direction  of  the  Emperor.  Not  only  the  worship,  but 
even  the  veneration  of  images  was  prohibited ;  whilst 
the  tone  of  superiority  which  Charlemagne  affected 
over  the  Pope,  and  his  despotic  interference  in  eccle- 
siastical matters,  secured  him  the  pseudonyme  of  Epis- 


THE   TEMPORAL  POWER    OF   THE  PAPACY.         2$ 

copus  episcoporum.  But  the  Pope  was  now  too  powerful 
even  to  contemplate  the  possibility  of  a  check  in  the 
progress  which  had  been  so  rapidly  made  towards  that 
universal  dominion  to  which  the  Papacy  steadily  as- 
pired. The  ignorance  which  generally  prevailed,  and 
the  consequent  necessity  of  employing  ecclesiastics  in 
the  highest  secular  offices,  favoured  resort  to  one  of 
-those  stratagems  which  Rome  has  always  so  well  known 
how,  and  when,  to  employ,  in  tightening  her  grasp  upon 
the  human  conscience  *. 

c  Suddenly  there  appeared  a  professed  collection  of 
Epistles  of  Romau  Bishops,  from  the  time  of  the 
Apostles  to  the  beginning  of  the  seventh  century,  in 
which  the  doctrine  was  distinctly  and  forcibly  laid  down 
that  the  Roman  Pontiff  was  the  supreme  head,  lawgiver, 
and  judge  of  the  whole  Church,  without  whose  appro- 
bation and  concurrence  the  acts  of  neither  metropolitans 
nor  councils  could  possess  any  validity.  These  ancient 
and  venerable  documents,  said  to  have  been  collected 
in  the  seventh  century  by  the  celebrated  Isidore,  bishop 
of  Seville,  and  now  published  under  the  title  of  "  De- 
cretal Epistles,"  but  in  reality  very  different  from  the 

1  From  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century  the  pretensions  of  the 
Papacy  had  been  supported  by  a  course  of  systematic  fabrications. 
Of  these,  perhaps  the  most  important  (from  the  fact  of  its  being 
afterwards  incorporated  in  the  Isidorian  Decretals,  and  so  lending 
to  the  latter  the  stamp  of  authority)  was  the  interpolation  of  the 
original  list  of  Roman  bishops,  which  became  the  foundation  of 
the  Liber  Pontificalis .  The  object  of  this  forgery  was  to  confirm 
existing  legends  of  Roman  martyrology,  and  of  the  Popes  and 
Emperors,  such  as  the  baptism  of  Constantine ;  and  to  supply  a 
basis  for  the  belief,  designed  to  be  elevated  into  dogma,  that  the 
Popes,  from  St.  Peter  downwards,  had  acted  as  legislators  of  the 
(whole  Church. 


$0  THE    TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

collection  under  the  name  of  that  writer  which  had  be- 
come known  in  the  course  of  the  eighth  century, — 
appeared  to  possess  an  authority  beyond  the  reach  of 
cavil  or  of  doubt ;  and  that  respect  and  submission  to  the 
Roman  See  which  had  hitherto  been  regarded  by  some 
as  a  matter  of  opinion,  or  as  the  necessary  conclusion 
from  certain  premises,  or  which  others  had  supposed 
to  have  been  founded  only  in  prescription,  from  long 
usage  and  ancient  custom,  was  now  proclaimed  and 
accepted  as  involved  in  the  very  constitution  of  the 
Church  from  the  beginning  V 

The  success  of  this  forgery  was  complete,  and  had 
a  lasting  effect,  far  beyond  what  its  author  contem- 
plated, upon  the  future  history  of  the  Papacy.  It  was 
the  first  step — palpably  false  and  fraudulent — in  that 
strange  but  complete  transition  from  the  Catholicism  of 
the  Fathers  to  that  of  the  modern  Popes,  and  effectu- 
ally changed  the  whole  constitution  and  government  of 
the  Church.  Here  and  there  a  voice  was  raised  against 
the  Decretals 2 ;  but  the  great  authority  of  the  Roman 
Pontiffs  served  to  invest  them  with  such  a  pomp  of 
authenticity,  that  it  was  seldom  any  one  dared  to  in- 

1  Riddle's  '  History  of  the  Papacy.' 

2  A  singular  illustration  has  been  recently  afforded  in  the  work 
of  Monseigneur  Maret,  '  Du  Goncile  General  et  de  la  Paix  Reli- 
gieuse,'  of  the  permanent  effects  of  these  forgeries  in  giving  a 
retrospective  colouring  and  interpretation  to  the  entire  field  of 
Christian  antiquity,  and  to  the  evidence  adduced,  even  by  the 
moderated  tones  of  Gallicanism,  in  support  of  the  pretensions  of 
Rome.  Here  is  a  prelate,  honest  enough  to  disavow  the  whole 
collection  of  forgeries  and  interpolations,  who,  notwithstanding, 
betrays  an  unconscious  bias — the  inevitable  result  of  their  en- 
during effect  on  the  thought  of  Rome — towards  the  traditions  of 
which  they  are  the  source,  a  profound  attachment  toward  the 
disturbing  theories  which  they  have  systematized. 


II.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  3 1 

sinuate  a  doubt  of  their  genuineness,  until  the  sixteenth 
century,  when  Erasmus  demonstrated  their  spurious 
character.  But  notwithstanding  the  lapse  of  three  cen- 
turies since  their  exposure,  the  honest  but  perilous 
doubt  of  the  Protestant  sceptic  on  the  subject  of 
miracles  performed  eighteen  hundred  years  ago,  is  held 
as  infamous,  where  an  unreasoning  adherence  to  a 
system  whose  very  life  is  permeated  with  principles 
based  upon  fraud  and  chicanery,  occasions  little  sur- 
prise and  less  censure. 

Upon  the  dismemberment  of  the  Empire,  at  the  death 
of  Louis  le  Debonnaire,  a  dark,  anarchical  period  fol-  <-<" 
lowed ;  perhaps  the  darkest  in  the  annals  of  the  Papacy. 
Contending  factions  of  the  nobles  assumed  to  them- 
selves the  power  of  electing  occupants  for  the  chair  of 
St.  Peter,  which  had  become  their  prey  and  plaything, 
whilst  the  Papal  territory  was  reduced  to  utter  in- 
significance. 

During  the  first  half  of  the  ninth  century  the  Papacy 
sank  back  into  utter  confusion  and  moral  impotence. 
Three  dissolute  women,  Theodora,  and  her  daughters, 
Marogia  and  Theodora,  contrived  to  bring  the  whole 
patrimony  of  St.  Peter  under  their  sway,  and  disposed 
of  the  tiara  at  their  pleasure.  Crimes,  too  odious  to 
narrate,  and  before  which  murder  pales,  were  perpe- 
trated to  gratify  their  lusts.  Laymen  of  infamously 
notorious  character  filled  the  chair  of  the  Apostles, 
which  was  bought  and  sold  like  a  piece  of  merchandise. 
The  Papal  palace  became  a  vast  seraglio ;  the  very 
churches  echoed  to  obscene  songs  and  bacchanal  fes- 
tivities. This  degradation  of  the  Papacy  culminated 
in  the  person  of  John  XII,  son  of  Marogia,  who,  elevated 
to  the  Papal  throne  at  the  early  age  of  eighteen,  dis- 


/ 


UNIVERSITY) 


3  2  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

tinguished  himself  as  the  most  profligate,  if  not  the 
most  guilty,  of  the  infallible  heads  of  the  Church,  who, 
agreeably  to  the  theory  of  Isidore,  confirmed  by  two 
Roman  Synods,  must  be  held  to  inherit  innocence  and 
sanctity  from  Peter1.  Then  it  was  that  Otho  the 
Great,  from  whom  Beranger  held  the  kingdom  of  Italy 
in  fief,  learning  the  true  state  of  affairs  in  Rome,  re- 
solved to  terminate  so  great  a  scandal  by  a  more  un- 
equivocal exercise  of  his  own  authority,  and  of  his  le- 
gitimate control  over  the  election  of  future  Pontiffs.  In- 
vited by  the  Pope  to  come  to  his  aid  against  Beranger, 
Otho  undertook  his  expedition  into  Italy,  with  a  view  to 
obtain  the  real  sovereignty  of  the  country,  and  received 
the  crown  at  the  hands  of  the  Pontiff.  The  jealousy  of 
John  was  presently  awakened,  and  he  entered  into 
traitorous  alliance  with  the  son  of  Beranger. 

This  contest  between  the  Emperor  and  the  Pope  is 
worthy  of  notice,  both  as  a  curious  episode  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  Papacy,  and  as  the  first  in  that  long  series 
of  struggles  between  the  two  powers,  which  theo- 
retically were  but  one,  the  World-Priest  and  the  World- 
Monarch,  claiming  to  represent  upon  earth  the  simili- 
tude of  the  Divine  unity.  John  shut  himself  up  in 
Rome,  but  not  daring  to  encounter  a  siege,  fled  into 
the  Campagna.  The  city  was  thus  open  to  the  occu- 
pation of  Otho,  who  convened  a  council  in  St.  Peter's 
to  enquire  into  the  character  of  the  fugitive  Pope,  him- 

1  Two  centuries  later  this  holiness  of  all  the  Popes,  of  which 
he  affirmed  that  he  had  personal  experience,  was  made  by- 
Gregory  VII  the  foundation  of  his  claim  to  universal  dominion. 
'  Every  sovereign,'  he  said,  '  however  good  before,  becomes  cor- 
rupted by  the  use  of  power,  whereas  every  rightly-appointed 
Pope  becomes  a  saint  through  the  imputed  merits  of  St.  Peter.' 


II.]  OF    THE   PAPACY.  33 

self  presiding  in  the  capacity  of  temporal  head  of  the 
Church.  Strange  were  the  accusations  which  were 
brought  against  this  c  Holy  Father ! '  He  had  drunk 
the  devil's  health ;  had  ordained  a  deacon  in  a  stable ; 
had  put  out  the  eyes  of  his  spiritual  father,  Benedict ; 
had  invoked  the  help  of  Jupiter  in  throwing  the  dice ; 
defiled  the  Pontifical  palace  by  his  vices ;  and,  most 
heinous  offence  of  all,  was  addicted  to  hunting  !  Otho 
despatched  a  summons  to  John  to  appear  before  the 
Council,  and  clear  himself  from  this  formidable  array  of 
accusations.  His  reply  was  sufficiently  brief  to  quote 
in  full.  c  John  the  bishop,  the  servant  of  the  servants 
of  God,  to  all  the  bishops.  We  have  heard  tell  that 
you  wish  to  set  up  another  Pope;  if  you  do  this,  by 
Almighty  God  I  will  excommunicate  you,  so  that  you 
shall  not  have  power  to  say  the  mass  or  to  ordain  no 
one.'  Otho  replied  to  this  singular  Apostolic  epistle 
in  a  bantering  reproof  of  the  Pontiff's  bad  morals  and 
bad  Latin ;  but  the  messenger  by  whom  his  missive 
was  despatched,  failed  to  find  the  sporting  Pontiff,  who, 
undeterred  by  the  scandal  which  the  practice  of  his 
favourite  vice  had  occasioned,  was  following  the  chase. 
Otho  immediately  demanded  of  the  Council  the  con- 
demnation of  the  Pope,  and  Leo  VIII  was  elected  to 
fill  the  Papal  throne,  which  they  had  declared  vacant. 
The  Emperor  now  claimed  an  absolute  veto  upon  Papal 
elections.  He  regarded  the  new  Pope  simply  as  the 
first  in  dignity  amongst  his  subjects;  cthe  creature  of 
his  own  will;  the  depository  of  an  authority  which 
must  be  exercised  according  to  the  discretion  of  his 
sovereign/  He  obtained  from  Leo  the  distinct  recog- 
nition of  these  claims. 

After  the   death  of  Leo  VIII   the   troubles   of  the 


34  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

Papacy  were  redoubled.  The  Papal  pretensions, 
however,  to  the  right  of  disposing  of  the  Imperial 
crown,  were  strengthened  through  its  acceptance  by 
Otho  at  the  hands  of  John  XII,  and  by  the  alleged 
necessity  of  recognizing  the  superiority  of  the  Em- 
peror over  all  other  princes,  as  possessing  autho- 
rity conferred  by  God  through  the  instrumentality  of  the 

,    ^pe. 

I  The  destruction  of  the  Carlovingian  house,  a.d.  987, 
left  the  territories  of  the  Church  a  prey  to  the  Italian 
princes.  Of  the  twenty-four  Popes  who  occupied  the 
Apostolic  throne  during  the  century  and  a  half  which 
followed,  two  were  murdered,  five  were  driven  into 
exile,  four  were  deposed,  and  three  resigned.  Some 
attained  the  tiara  by  arms;  some  by  money;  others, 
again,  by  the  influence  of  princely  courtesans,  whilst 
one,  at  least,  was  self-appointed.  One  of  these  heirs 
of  St.  Peter  entered  on  his  infallibility  before  he  had 
attained  his  twelfth  year.  This  was  Benedict  IX,  who, 
a  few  years  later,  fell  in  love,  and,  in  order  to  marry, 
sold  the  Popedom  to  the  arch-priest  John,  who  took  the 
name  of  Gregory  VI.  Disappointed  in  his  hopes  of 
marriage,  Benedict  again  claimed  the  tiara  which  he 
had  just  sold.  Meanwhile,  some  of  the  nobles  had 
elected  a  rival,  who  took  the  name  of  Sylvester  III; 
and  it  is  curious  to  observe  that  HiJdebrand,  and  others 
of  the  high  church  party  whose  lives  were  to  be  spent 
in  warring  against  simony,  decided  the  claims  of  the 
three  rival  Popes  by  supporting  him  whose  only  right 
was  that  of  purchase.  Another  Pontiff  of  this  period 
received  a  posthumous  sentence  of  deposition,  his  corpse 
being  disinterred  for  the  purpose !  Another,  Judas-like, 
received  a  bribe  to  recognize  the  Patriarch  of  Constan- 


II.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  $$ 

tinople  as  universal  bishop1.  But  the  world  would 
assuredly  have  condoned  the  simony  involved  in  so 
useful  an  employment  of  his  infallibility,  if  only  the 
supremacy  of  the  Church  which  he  bartered  had  been 
transferred  to  the  purer  communion. 

The  Pontificate  of  John  XVI  acquired  importance 
from  the  successful  struggle  in  which  that  Pontiff  was 
engaged  with  Hugh  Capet,  on  the  question  of  the 
Pope's  jurisdiction  over  bishops.  The  Pope  took  his 
stand  upon  the  authority  of  the  forged  Decretals,  in 
which  all  matters  relating  to  bishops  were  expressly 
reserved  to  the  judgment  of  the  Pontiff,  whilst  the 
French  clergy  contested  the  Papal  claims,  appealing  to 
ancient  canons,  and  to  the  practice  of  the  Church 
during  eight  centuries,  in  favour  of  the  co-extensive 
jurisdiction  of  a  Council.  John  defended  the  rights  of 
the  Holy  See  against  the  king  and  the  bishops  of  France. 
A  second  Council  met  at  Rheims,  and  declared  it  to  be 
a  law  of  the  Church  that  the  office  of  a  judge  over 
bishops  belonged  to  the  Pope  alone.  The  victory  for 
the  Papacy  was  a  most  important  one.  But  whilst  John 
thus  succeeded  in  establishing  his  spiritual  jurisdiction 
at  home  and  abroad,  the  increasing  power  of  the  Roman 
aristocracy  involved  the  Papacy  in  troubles  from  which 
it  sought  to  escape  by  calling  in  the  aid  of  the  Em- 
peror Otho  III.  .  cIt  was  not,'  says  Dr.  Dollinger, 
c  until  Otho  III  appointed  his  cousin  Bruno,  and  after- 
wards, a.d.  999,  the  celebrated  Gerbert,  as  Popes,  and 
protected  them  by  an  armed  force,  that  the  Papacy 
could  once  more  obtain  and  exercise  its  influence  and 
authority  in  ecclesiastical  affairs2.5 

•  '  'TyEssays  on  Ecclesiastical  Biography,'  by  Sir  James  Stephen. 
2  '  The  Church  and  the  Churches/  by  Dr.  Dollinger. 
D  2 


$6  THE    TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

A  long  period  of  dissension  and  anarchy  followed, 
during  which  the  Papacy  lost  much  of  its  dignity; 
whilst  a  succession  of  Pontiffs  emulated  the  vices  and 
enormities  of  John  XII  and  the  Popes  of  the  ninth 
century.  The  Papal  chair  was  often  vacant.  '  It 
seemed,'  says  a  modern  writer,  c  as  if  the  cardinals 
wanted  to  show  the  world  by  a  rare  irony  how  easily 
the  Church  could  get  on  without  him  from  whom,  in  the 
new  theory,  all  her  authority  was  derived.''  Southern 
Tuscany  was  lost ;  and  nearly  the  whole  of  the  Papal 
territory  fell  into  the  hands  of  contending  factions. 
The  wide  and  undefined  claims  of  the  Popes  and  the 
Emperors  were  adhered  to  with  equal  tenacity  by  either 
party.  These  claims  were  mutually  destructive,  and 
involved  principles  so  entirely  adverse,  that  all  com- 
promise was  impossible.  The  idea  of  compromise  was 
indeed  eschewed  by  Pope  and  Emperor  alike. 

Throughout  five  successive  pontificates  (a. d.  1048- 
1083)  the  master-mind  of  Hildebrand,  cthe  Pope- 
maker1,'  continued  to  direct  the  affairs  of  the  Papal 
See.  During  this  period  the  influence  of  the  clergy 
was  greatly  increased,  and  the  ecclesiastical  power  of 
the  Popes  was  carried  to  its  height.  It  was  the  settled 
policy  of  this  ambitious  diplomatist  to  consolidate  the 
secular  sovereignty  of  the  Pope,  to  make  the  Roman  See 
independent  of  the  Empire,  and  to  increase  the  power 
of  the  clergy.  The  convulsions  which  shook  the  Em- 
pire during  the  minority  of  Henry  IV  favoured  his 
projects.  The  Papacy  was  now  as  closely  allied  with 
the  German  Emperors  as  it  had  ever  been  with  the 
Emperors  of  Rome?  or  the  successors  of  Charlemagne. 

1  Domnus  Domni  Papa  was  the  nickname  applied  to  Hildebrand 
in  the  time  of  Alexander  II,  his  fifth  nominee. 


II.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  37 

Hildebrand  resolved  to  free  the   Popedom   from   this 
political  subordination,  and  soon  found  means  for  the  | 
attainment  of  his  object. 

Leo  IX,  after  assuming  the  Pontificate  at  Worms, 
passed  through  France  with  the  title  and  insignia  of 
his  office,  until,  arriving  at  Clu£ny,  he  made  the  ac- 
quaintance of  the  distinguished  monk,  whose  willing 
vassal  he  was  thenceforth  to  be.  Hildebrand  easily 
persuaded  the  Pope  of  the  impiety  and  degradation  in- 
volved in  receiving  the  Pontifical  office  at  the  hands 
of  a  layman,  albeit  that  layman  was  the  Emperor.  He 
also  induced  him  to  make  a  public  declaration  that  he 
could  not  regard  the  nomination  as  valid  until  it  was 
endorsed  by  the  free  election  of  the  Romans.  Rejoicing 
in  this  aggrandizement  of  the  Papacy  at  the  expense  of 
the  Imperial  authority,  Hildebrand  accompanied  the 
new  Pope  to  Rome,  where  he  was  duly  elected. 

Thus  one  most  important  principle  was  established. 
Before  we  proceed  to  notice  the  development  of  the 
plans  which  Hildebrand  had  now  matured  for  the  exalta- 
tion of  the  ecclesiastical  power  of  the  Pontiffs,  we  must 
glance  briefly,  and  in  its  chronological  sequence,  at  per- 
haps the  most  important  service  which  he  rendered  to  the 
purely  secular  authority  of  the  Holy  See.  For  a  period 
of  half  a  century,  the  Goths,  who  had  originally  come 
from  France  at  the  invitation  of  the  Italian  nobles,  to 
root  out  the  Greeks  and  Saracens,  had  been  a  thorn  in 
the  side  of  the  Papacy.  In  1053,  Leo  IX,  who  had 
taken  the  field  against  them  in  person,  was  taken  w 
prisoner,  and  compelled  to  recognize  their  right  to 
those  possessions  of  the  Church  which  they  had  already 
seized1.      The  far-reaching  mind  of  Hildebrand  per- 

1  Riddle's  '  History  of  the  Papacy.' 


38  THE   TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

ceived  the  danger  to  the  temporal  power,  arising  from 
the  incessant  disputes  which  followed,  and  he  resolved 
to  effect  an  alliance  with  the  formidable  foe.  Nicholas 
II  now  filled  the  Papal  chair,  and,  by  the  advice  of 
Hildebrand,  he  formally  invested  Robert  Guiscard,  the  ]/ 
Norman  chief,  with  Apulia  and  Calabria,  as  a  fief  of 
the  Roman  See,  with  the  title  of  Duke,  and  also  with 
Sicily,  then  in  the  possession  of  the  Saracens. 

c  By  this  arrangement  Guiscard  recognized  the  Pope 
as  his  feudal  chief,  and  undertook  to  pay  a  yearly 
tribute  to  the  Roman  see,  and  to  defend  it  against  all 
its  enemies,  upon  the  demand  of  the  Pope.  The  Pontiff 
had  thus  gained  a  titular  supremacy  over  the  Romans  ; 
and,  besides  this,  he  had  consolidated  a  power  in  Italy 
which  he  might  advantageously  employ  as  a  check  upon 
either  the  nobles  and  towns  of  Italy,  or  the  forces  of  the 
Empire,  as  occasion  should  require  V 

Hildebrand  now  turned  his  attention  to  further 
efforts  for  the  stability  and  extension  of  the  dominion 
of  the  Holy  See,  by  securing  its  greater  independence 
of  the  Emperor.  Hitherto  the  occupant  of  the  chair  of 
St.  Peter  had  been  elected  by  the  Roman  nobility,  the 
people  also  having  at  least  a  nominal  share  in  the 
election ;  whilst  the  Emperor  claimed  the  right  of  con- 
firming or  putting  a  veto  upon  their  choice.  The 
election  was  always  made  in  the  presence  of  Imperial 
commissioners.  Thus  the  Popes  were  little  better 
than  the  vassals  of  the  Emperors,  who,  of  late,  had 
even  claimed  to  exercise  the  right  of  sole  nomination. 
In  proportion  as  the  Papacy  increased  in  power  and 
dignity,  this  right  became  invested  with  a  grandeur 
which  constituted  it  the  most  prized  of  the  imperial  pre-    \ 

1  Riddle's  '  History  of  the  Papacy.' 


II.]  OF   THE  PAPACY,  39 

rogatives.  The  voice  of  the  clergy  was  almost  wholly 
excluded  in  a  Papal  election,  and  the  power  of  the 
Emperor  interposed  an  effectual  barrier  in  the  way  of 
that  universal  dominion  towards  which  the  Papacy  was 
steadily  progressing. 

c  It  was  doubtless  with  a  view  to  obviate  these  ill 
consequences  that  Nicholas  II  published  a  decree, 
which  he  had  caused  to  be  confirmed  by  a  Roman 
Council  in  1059,  to  the  effect  that  in  future  neither  the 
nobility  nor  the  people  should  take  any  part  in  the 
election  of  a  Pope,  but  that  the  right  of  election  should 
belong  properly  to  the  clergy  alone,  who,  however, 
should  exercise  this  right  not  altogether  in  a  mass,  but 
only  by  means  of  their  representatives.  He  thus  con- 
stituted a  college  of  electors,  consisting  of  the  chief 
and  most  influential  of  the  Roman  clergy,  who,  under 
the  name  of  cardinals,  had,  for  some  time  past,  taken  a 
leading  part  in  the  affairs  of  the  Church  V 

As  a  salve  to  the  Imperial  dignity,  it  was  provided 
that  the  Emperors  should  exercise  the  ancient  right  of 
confirming  the  election,  c  if  they  should  have  previously 
sought  and  obtained  it  from  the  Holy  See;'  a  privilege 
for  which  an  Emperor  was  quite  unlikely  to  sue.  The 
success  of  this  bold  innovation  was  destined  to  be  soon 
put  to  the  test,  and  it  resulted  in  the  triumph  of  Hilde- 
brand,  and  the  freedom  of  the  Papacy. 

Nicholas  died  in  1061,  and  the  Roman  nobles  de- 
clared themselves  in  favour  of  receiving  a  Pope  at  the 
hands  of  the  Empress,  who  was  now  Regent,  rather 
than  from  the  cardinals.  Two  Popes  were  consequently 
elected;  but  political  events,  supposed  to  have  been 
brought  about  by  the   secret   machinations  of  Hilde- 

1  Riddle's  '  History  of  the  Papacy.' 


40  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

brand,  favoured  his  plans.  Hanno,  Archbishop  of 
Cologne,  who  had  become  the  guardian  of  the  young 
Emperor,  declared  himself  in  favour  of  Alexander,  the 
nominee  of  Hildebrand,  who,  in  1062,  was  recognized 
as  Pope. 

Hildebrand,  who  was  now  Cardinal-Archdeacon,  had 
more  than  once  an  opportunity  of  himself  stepping  into 
the  Papal  chair.  The  conviction  that  he  could  best 
serve  the  interests  of  the  Church  by  securing  the  elec- 
tion of  suitable  men,  induced  him  to  sacrifice  his  per- 
sonal interests.  Certain  it  is  that  his  power  in  Rome 
was  so  great  that  no  intrigues  on  his  part  were  requisite 
to  secure  the  Papal  dignity  *.  When,  on  the  death  of 
Alexander  II,  his  election  took  place,  he  acquiesced  with 
a  reluctance  which  it  is  impossible  to  regard  as  feigned, 
however  much  he  triumphed  in  witnessing  the  complete 
success  of  his  new  regulations  concerning  Papal  elec- 
tions. c  When  he  heard  it/  says  Ranke,  c  the  venerable 
Archdeacon  was  sore  afraid,  and  rushed  to  the  pulpit, 
wishing  to  quiet  the  people.  But  Hugh  the  White 
prevented  him,  and  thus  addressed  the  people  :  cc  Men 
and  brethren,  ye  know  how  that  from  the  days  of  our 
lord,  Pope  Leo,  this  Hildebrand  it  is  who  has  exalted 
the  Holy  Roman  Church,  and  has  freed  the  city; 
wherefore,  since  we  have  none  better,  nor  one  like 
unto  him,  whom  we  can  choose  for  the  Roman  Pontifi- 
cate, we  have  chosen  this  man,  one  ordained  in  our 
Church,  known  unto  you  and  unto  us,  and  in  all  things 
approved."  And  when  the  cardinals,  bishops,  .  .  .  and 
the  clergy  of  lower  rank  had,  as  the  custom  is,  shouted 
together,  "  St.  Peter  has  chosen  Gregory  Pope,"  he  was 

1  Niebuhr. 


II.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  4 1 

seized  upon  and  drawn  along  by  the  people,  and  against 
his  will  was  enthroned  at  St.  Peter  ad  Vincula/ 

Hildebrand  was  elevated  to  the  Papal  throne  about 
the  same  time  that  the  Emperor,  Henry  IV,  began  to  L^ 
exercise  his  Imperial  rights. 

It  was  but  natural  that  Henry  should  resent  the 
insult  which  he  conceived  to  have  been  offered  to  the 
Imperial  crown  by  the  election  of  Hildebrand,  now  . 
Gregory  VII.  For  this  opposition  Gregory  was  pre- 
pared. But  he  possessed  the  tact  to  avoid  a  contest, 
and  obtained  from  the  Emperor  a  formal  recognition  of 
his  election,  choosing,  from  motives  of  policy,  to  allow 
once  more  the  exercise  of  this  disputed  right. 

Gregory  was  now  at  liberty  to  devote  all  his  energies 
to  the  accomplishment  of  the  great  objects  of  his  life; 
— -the  deliverance  of  the  Roman  See  from  all  secular 
control,  and  the  prosecution  of  the  ecclesiastical  re- 
forms already  initiated  at  his  instance. 

Before  his  election  he  had  boldly  intimated  to  the' 
Emperor  that,  as  Pope,  he  must  infallibly  assume  a 
hostile  relation  to  him.  This  hostility  was  mainly  di- 
rected to  the  accomplishment  of  three  objects,  with  the 
simple  enumeration  of  which  I  must  content  myself. 
These  were,  the  celibacy  of  the  clergy ;  the  destruction 
of  the  monster  evil  of  simony ;  and  the  great  contest 
respecting  investiture. 

The  success  which  attended  his  bold  denunciation  of 
the  Emperor,  and  the  King  of  France,  for  the  open  and 
organized  traffic  in  ecclesiastical  offices  that  disgraced 
their  respective  courts,  and  cast  discredit  upon  the 
Roman  See,  and  the  craven  submission  of  these  sove- 
reigns, encouraged  him  to  proceed  with  a  high  hand  to 
the  decisive  measures  which  he  had   matured   in  his 


42  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

long  monastic  contemplations.  By  the  introduction  of 
celibacy,  which  he  rendered  compulsory,  in  spite  of  the 
most  formidable  opposition,  and  of  the  tears  and  im- 
precations of  those  whom  he  forced  to  break  the 
tenderest  of  all  ties;  in  spite  also  of  a  canon  of  the 
Church  \  which  threatened  with  excommunication  all 
persons  who  should  declare  a  married  priest  disqualified 
for  the  performance  of  divine  offices,  he  succeeded  in 
converting  the  whole  body  of  the  clergy  into  a  kind  of 
monastic  order.  By  providing  that  no  clerical  office 
should,  in  future,  be  conferred  by  a  layman,  under 
penalty  of  excommunication 2,  he  transferred  the  allegi- 
ance of  the  clergy  from  the  Emperor  to  the  Pope. 

The  real  question  at  issue  in  this  controversy  re- 
specting investiture,  was  the  limits  of  the  power  of  the 
Roman  S^e,  whose  ordinances  Gregory  determined  to 
enforce   against   all   sovereigns   who   disputed  them 3. 

1  Passed  at  the  Council  of  Gangra,  in  the  fourth  century,  and 
incorporated  in  all  collect'ons  of  canon  law. 

2  Ranke. 

3  Gregory  borrowed  one  main  pillar  of  his  system  from  the 
False  Decretals.  Isidore  had  made  Pope  Julius  (about  a.d.  338) 
write  to  the  Eastern  bishops :  *  The  Church  of  Rome,  by  a  sin- 
gular privilege,  has  the  right  of  opening  and  shutting  the  gates  of 
heaven  to  whom  she  will.'  On  this  Gregory  built  his  scheme  of 
dominion.  How  should  not  he  be  able  to  judge  on  earth,  on 
whose  will  hung  the  salvation  or  damnation  of  men  ?  The 
passage  was  made  into  a  special  decree  or  chapter  in  the  new 
codes.  The  typical  formula  of  binding  and  loosing  had  become 
an  inexhaustible  treasure-chamber  of  rights  and  claims.  The 
Gregorians  used  it  as  a  charm  to  put  them  in  possession  of  every- 
thing worth  having.  If  Gregory,  who  was  notoriously  the  first 
to  undertake  dethroning  kings,  wanted  to  depose  the  German 
Emperor,  he  said,  '  To  me  is  given  power  to  bind  and  loose  on 
earth  and  in  heaven.'     Were  subjects  to  be  absolved  from  their 


II.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  43 

The  Emperors  were  no  less  determined  in  the  assertion 
of  their  right  to  exercise  control  over  the  hierarchy. 
The  strife  was  mortal.  The  ends  sought  by  both  the 
antagonists  were  unattainable.  It  was  not  until  this 
fact  had  been  forced  upon  them  by  sufferings  as  sad  as 
they  were  unnecessary,  that  the  real  question,  only  then 
reduced  within  the  bounds  of  its  apparent  dimensions, 
rendered  an  accommodation  possible.  Meanwhile,  the 
long  and  haughty  contest  upon  which  Gregory  VII  had 
entered  with  the  Imperial  power,  plunged  both  the 
leading  actors  in  the  drama  into  the  extreme  of  misery 
and  degradation.  The  Pope,  before  whom  the  mightiest 
prince  of  Christendom  had  been  humiliated  to  the  last 
degree;  who,  himself  enjoying  the  luxuries  of  the 
Countess  Matilda's  castle  at  Canosa,  had  kept  the 
royal  penitent  standing  barefoot  on  the  snow  for  three 
days  and  nights,  until  satisfied  with  the  completeness  of 
his  own  triumph  and  the  irretrievable  disgrace  with 
which  the  crown,  so  abased,  was  overwhelmed; — the 
proud  Pontiff,  who  had  so  sternly  asserted  the  absolute 
superiority  of  the  spiritual  over  the  secular  power,  died 
in  exile  at  Salerno,  a.d.  ]  0%%  exclaiming,  c  I  have 
loved  justice,  and  hated  iniquity,  therefore  I  die  in 
exile !'  Twenty  years  later,  the  Emperor,  after  a  long 
reign,  extending  over  half  a  century,  died  of  a  broken 
heart,  the  prisoner  of  his  own  son. 

oaths  of  allegiance?— which  he  was  also  the  first  to  attempt, — he 
djd  it  by  virtue  of  his  power  to  loose.  Did  he  want  to  dispose  of 
other  people's  property  ?  he  declared,  as  at  his  Roman  synod  of 
1080,  'We  desire  to  show  the  world  that  we  can  give  or  take 
away,  at  our  will,  kingdoms,  duchies,  earldoms,  in  a  word,  the 
possessions  of  all  men ;  for  we  can  bind  and  loose.' — '  The  Pope 
and  the  Council,'  by  Janus. 


44  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

But  although  his  end  was  ignominious,  and  the 
means  by  which  he  sought  to  attain  the  great  objects  of 
his  life  were  unworthy  of  admiration,  Hildebrand's 
genius  and  courage,  his  services  to  the  cause  of  civili- 
zation,— perhaps  even  to  that  of  true  religion,  and  J 
certainly  of  the  Roman  Church,  the  lofty  claims  of 
whose  hierarchy  he  so  effectually  established, — are  un- 
questionable. c  He  found  the  Papacy/  says  Sir  James 
Stephen1,  c dependent  on  the  Empire-  he  sustained 
her  by  alliances  almost  commensurate  with  the  Italian 
peninsula.  He  found  the  Papacy  electoral  by  the 
Roman  people  and  clergy-  he  left  it  electoral  by  a 
college  of  Papal  nomination.  He  found  the  Emperor 
the  virtual  patron  of  the  Holy  See;  he  .wrested  that 
power  from  his  hands.  He  found  the  secular  clergy 
the  allies  and  dependents  of  the  secular  power ;  he  con- 
verted them  into  the  inalienable  auxiliaries  of  his  own. 
He  found  the  higher  ecclesiastics  in  servitude  to  the 
temporal  sovereigns;  he  delivered  them  from  that  yoke 
to  subjugate  them  to  the  Roman  Tiara.  He  found  the 
patronage  of  the  Church  the  mere  desecrated  spoil  and 
merchandise  of  princes ;  he  reduced  it  within  the  do- 
minion of  the  supreme  Pontiff.5 

As  a  Pope,  Hildebrand  stands  alone.  Strength  of 
will,  combined  with  exalted  genius,  have  characterized 
few  in  the  long  succession  of  Roman  Pontiffs.  Arro- 
gance and  ambition  have  been  the  characteristics  of 
many.  But  in  either  trait  Hildebrand  was,  is,  and  will 
remain  unequalled.  Believing  himself  called  of  God  to 
the  accomplishment  of  a  great  work,  he  performed  it 
with  a  zeal,  inspired  by  a  devout  sense  of  responsibility, 

1  '  Essays  on  Ecclesiastical  Biography/  by  Sir  James  Stephen. 


II.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  45 

which  was  all  the  more  admirable  by  reason  of  the 
cautious  and  far-sighted  policy  by  which  it  was  regulated. 
The  limits  of  this  narrative  forbid  the  attempt  at 
anything  beyond  a  passing  reference  to  the  romantic 
story  of  the  Countess  Matilda,  the  bold  and  successful 
supporter  of  all  the  pretensions  of  the  most  arrogant 
and  ambitious  of  Pontiffs.  She  twice  obtained  the 
sanction  of  Gregory  VII  to  a  divorce  from  uncongenial 
marriages,  in  order  that,  with  undivided  energy,  and 
with  all  the  influence  which  her  unequalled  wealth,  as 
the  possessor  of  the  richest  territories  in  Italy,  secured 
to  her,  she  might  devote  herself  to  the  furtherance  of 
his  ambitious  projects.  Her  indomitable  spirit  enabled 
her  to  wield  the  sword  of  justice  in  behalf  of  the  Church, 
not  metaphorically  only,  in  the  tribunal,  but  with 
masculine  energy  as  a  warrior  on  the  battle-field.  In  a 
voluptuous  and  superstitious  age  she  lived  austerely,  and 
subdued  her  tastes  for  the  devotional  abstractions  of 
the  cloister^  that  she  might  consecrate  herself  wholly 
to  the  duties  of  her  chosen  vocation.  It  would  be 
interesting  to  trace  the  history  of  her  bequest  to  the 
Church  of  those  rich  Italian  possessions  \  which  became 
the  subject  of  so  much  virulent  contention  during  a 
period  of  fifty  years,  at  the  expiration  of  which  they 
passed  into  the  possession  of  the  Emperor.  It  is 
impossible  to  deny  the  apparent  justice  of  the  Imperial 
claim  to  these  territories,  which  were  held  by  Matilda 

1 '  Her  great  domains  comprised  the  Duchy  of  Tuscany,  extend- 
ing along  the  Tuscan  sea  to  within  a  few  miles  of  the  city  of 
Rome,  and  including  Perugia  and  Imola  within  its  limits ;  on  the 
north  it  embraced  the  Duchy  of  Modena,  to  which  had  been 
added  the  district  of  Parma ;  while  in  the  south  with  these 
territories  she  united  the  Duchy  of  Spoleto,  and  the  Marquisate 
of  Ancona.'— Butt's  '  History  of  Italy.' 


4<5         THE   TEMPORAL   POWER    OF   THE  PAPACY. 

under  feudal  tenure,  and  consequently  without  power  of 
alienation.  After  the  lapse  of  a  century  they  again 
reverted  to  the  Church,  together  with  other  territories 
for  which  forged  deeds  of  gift,  bearing  date  four 
centuries  back,  were  produced  by  the  unscrupulous  and 
cunning  Innocent  III.  But  with  this  history  our  narra- 
tive is  not  concerned. 

After  the  death  of  Gregory  VII,  two  successive 
Pontiffs  of  his  own  nomination  were  chosen  to  fill  the 
vacant  See.  These  were  Victor  III,  who  died  after  a 
brief  Pontificate,  and  Urban  II,  who  succeeded  him  in 
1088.  By  a  double  stroke  of  policy  this  Pontiff  effec- 
tually crippled  the  power  of  the  Emperor  in  Italy. 
Persuading  the  Countess  Matilda  to  marry  the  son  of 
the  Duke  of  Bavaria,  whose  enormous  wealth  and 
influence  were  by  stipulation  employed  to  harass  the 
Emperor,  and  by  instigating  Conrad,  the  Emperor's  only 
son,  to  rebellion  against  his  father,  he  placed  Henry  IV 
in  a  position  in  which  his  whole  and  undivided  energies 
were  absorbed  in  the  struggle  to  secure  his  German 
dominions.  It  would  be  difficult  to  overrate  the 
importance  of  the  service  thus  rendered  to  the  Papacy 
in  the  height  of  its  contest  with  the  Imperial  power, 
by  a  Pontiff  whose  self-confidence  was  a  source  of  equal 
power  as  the  greater  genius  of  a  Hildebrand. 

'For  they  can  conquer  who  believe  they  can1.' 
1  Virgil. 


CHAPTER    III. 

It  was  impossible  that  so  astute  a  man  as  Urban  II 
(a.d.  1088-99)  should  fail  to  perceive  the  opportunity 
presented  by  the  prevailing  fanaticism  of  the  age  for 
directing  it  to  the  accomplishment  of  quite  other  ends 
than  those  upon  which  it  was  immediately  set.  He 
only  pursued  the  policy  of  Gregory  VII,  of  whom  he 
was  in  every  respect  a  fitting  successor,  in  encouraging 
the  mad  enthusiasm  of  Christendom  for  effecting  the 
deliverance  of  the  Holy  Land  from  its  infidel  posses- 
sors j  —  a  religious  sentiment  which,  hostile  to  the 
opponent  of  ecclesiastical  claims,  became  a  powerful 
accessory  to  the  Holy  See,  which  had  blessed  the  pro- 
ject1. The  leadership  in  the  holy  wars  of  necessity 
devolved  on  the  Popes. 

Urban's  first  employment  of  the  prestige  which  he 
thus  secured,  was  the  assumption  of  a  more  imperious 
bearing  towards  the  crowned  heads  of  Europe,  concern- 
ing the  disputed  right  of  investiture,  than  had  been 
adopted  even  by  Gregory  VII.      His  haughty  rebuke, 

1  'A  Council  was  called  at  Clermont,  by  Pope  Urban  II,  A.D. 
1095,  with  a  view  to  the  recovery  of  the  Holy  Land ;  and  the 
princes  of  Europe  eagerly  undertook  the  enterprise.  ...  An 
armed  force  of  six  hundred  thousand,  commanded  by  Godfrey  de 
Bouillon,  was  reduced  to  a  t tenth  part  of  its  number  before 
reaching  Jerusalem;  but  succeeded  in  taking  the  city  a.d.  1099. 
Palestine  was  afterwards  subdued,  but  the  conquest  was  not 
permanent.' — '  Compendium  of  Universal  History,'  Jarrold  and 
Sons. 


t, 


university) 


4-S  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

and  threatened  excommunication  of  William  the  Con- 
queror, will  be  familiar  to  every  reader  of  English 
history. 

For  twenty  years  after  the  death  of  the  original 
actors  t  in  this  drama,  the  contest  continued  between 
the  Emperors  and  the  Pope,  with  varying  success. 

In  the  person  of  Calixtus  III,  the  Papal  chair  was 
filled  by  a  man  lacking  the  high  moral  qualities  and 
administrative  tact  of  Gregory  or  of  Urban.  The 
nobles  and  bishops  concurred  in  demanding  a  reconci- 
liation, and  Calixtus,  too  feeble  in  resources  to  parry  the 
ill  will  of  the  clergy,  as  his  great  predecessors  had  done, 
by  diverting  it  into  another  and  a  counter  channel, 
acceded  to  the  celebrated  concordat  at  Worms.  The 
vital  principle  of  the  controversy  was  surrendered,  by 
this  Council,  on  the  miserable  compromise  that  the 
Emperor  should  exercise  the  right  of  investiture  with 
the  sceptre  only,  and  not  with  the  crozier  and  ring. 

The  long  assertion  of  the  high  Papal  pretensions  was 
attended,  however,  with  one  result,  which  the  Emperor, 
in  his  triumph,  was  powerless  to  avert.  The  repeated 
and  successful  exercise  of  the  spiritual  powers  of  the 
Church,  and  especially  of  the  terrible  power  of  excom- 
munication, more  formidable  now  than  ever,  had  sur- 
rounded the  Papal  throne  with  an  awful  dignity  and 
power,  which  availed  to  compensate  the  loss  of  in- 
fluence-involved in  the  surrender  of  the  right  of  inves- 
titure. It  was  clearly  impolitic  to  jeopardize  this 
awful  power  by  the  prolongation  of  a  struggle,  from 
which  even  a  Hildebrand  might  have  shrunk. 

During  the  ensuing  century  Republican  institutions 
made  such  progress  in  Italy  that  the  civil  power,  both 
of  the  Popes  and  Emperors,  became  greatly  curtailed. 


III.]  OF   THE  PAPACY,  49 

The  Popes  were  frequently  obliged  to  flee  from  Rome, 
and  their  right  to  the  exercise  of  any  other  than  a 
purely  spiritual  authority  was  boldly  canvassed  K  In 
North  Italy  daring  heretics  arose,  who  proclaimed  that, 
in  becoming  territorial  lords  the  Popes  had  forsaken 
the  principles  of  the  Christian  religion.  Foremost 
amongst  these  was  Arnold  of  Brescia,  who  declared 
that  c  neither  bishop,  priest,  nor  monk  could  be  saved 
if  clogged,  the  former  with  regal  or  lordly  power,  the 
latter  with  worldly  wealth  or  goods/  He  shortly  after- 
wards expiated  at  the  stake  the  offence  of  an  alliance 
with  the  Emperor. 

Adrian  IV  (a.d.  i  154-59),  a  poor  English  scholar, 
whose  abilities  had  raised  him  to  the  highest  dignity  of 
the  Church,  succeeded,  by  fomenting  the  jealousy  which 
the  Emperor  entertained  towards  the  Romans,  in  re- 
covering undisputed  possession  of  Rome,  but  was 
powerless  to  prevent  the  devastation  of  the  surrounding 
territory  by  the  King  of  Italy.  The  disputes  between 
the  Pontiff  and  the  Emperor  had  now  degenerated  into 
mere  punctilios,  such  as  the  duty  of  the  Emperor  to 
hold  the  stirrup  of  his  Holiness  when  dismounting  from 
his  horse ;  and  that  of  the  Pope  to  refrain  from  double 
entendre  in  his  correspondence  with  the  Emperor. 
Yet — and  would  that  Rome  would  learn  the  lesson 
to-day — this  period  of  the  decadence  of  the  temporal 

1  It  is  a  curious  fact  that  in  the  twelfth  century  one  of  the 
famous  maxims  of  Gregory  VII,  ascribing  personal  holiness  to 
every  rightly-elected  Pope,  was  suffered  to  drop.  '  There  was 
danger  of  the  want  of  holiness  suggesting  the  invalidity  of  the 
election ;  and  therefore  the  decretal  books,  while  upholding  the 
rest  of  Gregory's  postulates,  were  silent  about  this.'—'  The  Pope 
and  the  Council,'  by  Janus. 

E 


/ 


$0  THE    TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

power  of  the  Roman  See,  was  that  of  its  most  exalted 
spiritual  power,  and  of  the  acquisition  of  an  influence,  in 
other  countries,  far  surpassing  that  of  which  it  had 
been  despoiled  in  Italy;  whilst  the  right  to  dispense 
crowns  was  never  so  little  questioned  as  now,  when  the 
spiritual  head  of  the  Church  claimed  no  right  to  wield 
the  sceptre  of  a  temporal  kingdom.  We  need  not  go 
beyond  the  history  of  our  own  country  for  confirmation 
of  these  assertions  respecting  the  ideas  of  the  Papacy 
which  characterized  the  age.  In  regard  to  the  first,  it 
is  sufficient  to  mention  the  name  of  Beckett;  and  as 
regards  the  second,  the  very  charter  of  the  English  pos- 
session of  Ireland  proceeds  on  the  assumption  { that  all 
islands  which  are  illuminated  by  Christ  the  Sun  of 
Righteousness  are  a  portion  of  the  patrimony  of  St. 
Peter  and  the  Holy  Roman  Church  K'  In  asking  for 
Ireland  as  a  gift  from  the  Pope,  Henry  II  deliberately 
recognized  the  superiority  which  the  Pontiffs  claimed 
.over  all  Kings,  and  their  power  of  dispensing  crowns, 
his  own  not  excepted.  Innocent  IV  declared  his 
readiness  to  abandon  the  Donation  of  Constantine, 
upon  which  his  predecessors  based  their  claims  to 
sovereignty,  which  he  maintained  was  derived  directly 
from  Christ,  and  extended  to  the  entire  world,  and  all 
that  it  contained.  Secular  power  was  only  to  be 
tolerated,  as  secular  princes  avowedly  exercised  it,  by 
commission  from  the  Pope. 

The  alliance  between  the  Emperor  and  the  Pope, 
sealed  by  the  blood  of  Arnold,  was  of  short  duration. 
c  By  the  grace  of  God,'  said  Frederick,  c  I  am  Emperor 
of  Rome.  If  Rome  be  entirely  withdrawn  from  my 
authority  the  Empire  is  an  empty  name/  And 
1  Bull  of  Pope  Adrian  IV.    • 


III.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  5 1 

Adrian  was  fain  to  appeal  for  protection  to  those  very 
republicans  of  Brescia  and  Milan  of  whom  he  had  been 
the  cruel  oppressor.  His  sudden  death  alone  prevented 
the  fulmination  of  a  bull  of  excommunication  against 
Frederick,  who,  to  meet  the  injurious  and  insulting 
claims  of  the  Pontiffs  to  the  possession  of  a  supreme 
power,  whose  sanctity  eclipsed  that  of  the  purely 
secular,  added  the  epithet  cHoly'  to  the  accustomed 
title  c  Roman  Empire.' 

The  schism  which  ensued  upon  the  death  of  Adrian 
produced  a  more  momentous  conflict,  in  which  the 
rival  of  the  Pontiff  nominated  by  Frederick  (Alexander 
III)  won  a  signal  triumph  over  the  Emperor.  The  vic- 
torious armies  of  Frederick  had  been  decimated  by  the 
fevers  of  Rome.  The  Lombard  cities,  whose  arms  the 
Pope  had  blessed,  rallied  to  the  summons  of  Alexander. 
The  strife  was  full  of  peril,  when,  by  the  mediation 
of  the  Doge  of  Venice,  the  Pope  and  the  Emperor  were 
induced  to  meet  at  St.  Mark's.  A  slab  of  red  marble 
still  marks  the  spot  upon  which  Frederick  knelt  in 
humble  submission  to  the  Pontiff,  who  raised  him,  with 
tears  of  joy,  and  imprinted  upon  his  forehead  the  kiss  of 
peace.  Frederick  thus  withdrew  from  the  contest  to 
which  his  life  had  been  devoted — his  rivalry  with  the 
Pontiff  for  the  chief  place  in  Christendom. 

At  the  close  of  the  twelfth  century  the  Popes  had  no 
settled  territory  in  Italy.  But  in  the  person  of  Innocent 
III,  who  entered  upon  his  Pontificate  in  the  full  vigour 
of  manhood,  a  restorer  was  at  hand,  who  proved  no 
exception  to  the  common  rule,  that,  to  a  man  of  en- 
terprizing  spirit,  opportunities  will  always  present 
themselves  for  the  exercise  of  his  talents.  Nor  did 
he  suffer  the  grass  to  grow  beneath  his  feet.     On  the 

E  % 


52  THE   TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 


first  day  of  his  Pontificate  he  invested  the  Prefect  of 
Rome  with  the  insignia  of  his  office,  and  compelled 
him  to  take  the  customary  oath  of  allegiance  to  himself, 
rather  than  to  the  Emperor.  Thus,  by  one  well-timed, 
well-directed  blow,  he  shattered  the  only  remaining 
link  which  connected  the  Imperial  sovereignty  with 
Rome.  Innocent  III  was  the  first  Pontiff  to  lay  down 
the  theory,  so  often  repeated  by  his  successors,  that,  in 
the  punishment  of  offences  against  the  civil  law,  the 
Pope  has  the  power  to  interpose  with  his  judgment  and 
annul  the  decisions  of  the  civil  tribunal.  His  entire 
Pontificate  was  characterized  by  the  same  imperious 
policy.  Of  this  we  have  an  illustration  in  the  rebuke 
which  he  administered  to  the  Tuscan  States,  which, 
whilst  pledging  themselves  to  the  support  of  the  Papal 
See,  and  to  the  recognition  of  no  Emperor  who  was  not 
approved  by  the  Pope,  at  the  same  time  recognized  the 
supremacy  of  the  Imperial  power.  Innocent  reminded 
these  reactionists  that  there  were  two  great  lights  in  the 
social  heaven,  having  their  seat  in  Italy,  the  lesser  of 
which,  the  Imperial  authority,  received  its  light  from 
the  greater,  the  Papal  See. 

Innocent  III  successfully  asserted  his  claim  to  the 
patrimony  of  St.  Peter,  and  to  all  that  was  included  in 
the  donation  of  Matilda.  Southern  Tuscany  again 
reverted  to  the  Church,  and  the  Pontiff  obtained  from 
the  Emperor  the  recognition  of  his  claim  to  the  ab- 
solute sovereignty  of  the  city  and  territories  of  Rome. 
This  crafty  and  ambitious  man,  possessing  all  the 
daring,  but  lacking  all  the  dignity  of  Gregory  VII, 
was  practically  the  founder  of  the  Papal  States,  the 
cities  of  which,  now  weary  of  the  German  yoke, 
hastened  to  recognize  and  welcome  his  authority. 


III.]  OF   THE  PAPACY,  53 

Events  in  Germany  having  brought  upon  the  stage 
two  competitors  for  the  Imperial  crown,  Innocent  de- 
termined to  assume  the  right  which  Adrian  III  had 
vainly  asserted,  of  nominating  the  Emperor.  With 
that  insinuating  craftiness  of  which  he  was  so  great  a 
master,  he  claimed,  not  the  absolute  right  of  nomina- 
tion, but  the  right  and  duty  of  assisting  the  electors  in 
such  a  state  of  affairs  as  the  present,  when  they  were 
unable  to  perform  the  functions  which,  he  allowed  it  to 
be  supposed,  he  regarded  as  their  inherent  right.  The 
competitors  for  the  vacant  throne  were  Philip,  brother 
of  the  late  Emperor  Henry  VI,  and  Otho,  formerly 
Duke  of  Saxony  and  Bavaria.  The  craftiness  of  Inno- 
cent led  him  into  the  fatal  error  of  delaying  too  long  to 
recognize  the  claims  of  either  candidate.  Philip  made 
the  most  splendid  overtures  for  his  support,  the  very 
offer  of  which  was  a  gain  to  the  Papacy.  But  whilst 
Innocent  coquetted  with  Philip,  hoping  to  secure 
equally  valuable  concessions  from  Otho,  his  plans 
were  frustrated  by  the  assassination  of  the  former. 
Otho  was  fully  aware  how  little  he  was  indebted  to 
Innocent  III  for  the  adherence  which  he  now  secured, 
and  opportunities  for  the  manifestation  of  the  malevo- 
lence which  he  entertained  towards  the  Pontiff'  soon 
presented  themselves.  He  seized  the  castles  and  for- 
tresses which  Innocent  had  recently  annexed  to  the 
patrimony  of  St.  Peter,  conferred  the  Duchy  of  Spoleto 
upon  one  of  his  German  nobles,  and  despoiled  the 
Church  of  some  portion  of  the  inheritance  of  the 
Countess  Matilda. 

Innocent,  now  determined  to  compass  the  Emperor's 
fall,  fulminated  against  him  a  sevenfold  bull  of  ex- 
communication, and,  by  means  of  emissaries  in  Ger- 


54  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

many,  created  a  rising  in  which  the  King  of  Bohemia, 
the  Duke  of  Bavaria,  and  other  princes,  both  lay  and 
ecclesiastical,  took  part  in  favour  of  the  pretensions  to 
the  Imperial  crown  of  Frederick,  the  young  son  of 
the  Emperor  Henry  VI,  whom,  five  years  earlier,  he 
had  employed  measures  to  exclude,  in  favour  of  the 
rivals,  Philip  and  Otho.  Innocent  died,  however,  A.D. 
1 21 8,  before  the  complete  overthrow  of  his  adversary 
was  accomplished.  The  tremendous  influence  which 
the  Papacy  had  now  acquired  again  finds  striking  illus- 
tration in  the  history  of  our  own  country.  The  dispute 
between  Innocent  and  King  John,  respecting  the  elec- 
tion of  Stephen  Langton  to  the  See  of  Canterbury, 
terminated  in  the  excommunication  and  complete 
humiliation  of  the  King,  who  unconditionally  surren- 
dered his  crown,  with  all  the  insignia  of  royalty,  to  the 
Roman  legate,  that  he  might  receive  them  back  as  the 
free  gift  of  the  Pope,  and  hold  his  kingdom  thence- 
forward as  a  fief  of  the  Roman  See.  The  subsequent 
absolution  of  the  King  from  the  oaths  he  had  sworn  at 
Runny mede,  and  the  advice  tendered  him  to  annul  the 
charter  he  had  so  reluctantly  conceded,  are  matters 
familiar  to  the  readers  of  English  history. 

Innocent  III  was  the  first  Pontiff  who  employed 
armed  forces  for  the  suppression  of  heresy,  and  to  him 
the  Papacy  is  indebted  for  one  of  its  most  powerful 
engines  of  propagandism, — the  Inquisition  ;  designed 
to  put  an  end,  not  only  to  all  public  teaching,  but  to 
private  thought.  The  unprotesting  acquiescence  of 
Europe  in  the  imposition  of  the  abominable  code  of 
the  Inquisition  affords  humiliating  and  signal  proof  of 
the  unlimited  and  arbitrary  power  exercised  by  the 
Popes.     Their  claim  to  sovereign  dominion  of  life  and 


III.]  OF  THE  PAPACY.  $$ 

death  over  all  Christians  was  no  idle  vaunt.  Every 
departure  from  the  teaching  of  the  Church  was  now 
made  punishable  by  death  in  its  most  appalling  form, 
viz.  by  fire.  The  object  proposed  by  Innocent  in  the 
establishment  of  the  Inquisition,  and  pursued  by  every 
succeeding  Pope  for  three  centuries,  was  the  complete 
uprooting  of  every  difference  of  belief.  Hence  there 
ceased  to  be  any  distinction  between  heresies.  It 
sufficed  that  a  man  differed  in  any  respect  from  the 
common  way  of  life  of  the  multitude  to  attach  to 
him  the  charge  of  heresy.  c  The  earlier  laws  of  the 
Roman  Emperors  had  distinguished  between  heresies, 
and  only  imposed  severe  penalties  on  some  on  account 
of  their  moral  enormity,  but  this  distinction  was  given 
up  after  the  time  of  Lucius  III,  a.d.  1184.  Complete 
apostacy  from  the  Christian  faith,  or  a  difference  on 
some  minor  point,  was  all  the  same.  Either  was 
heresy,  and  to  be  punished  by  death  K 

It  was  during  the  Pontificate  of  Innocent  III  that 
the  most  important  attempts  were  made  to  recover  the 
holy  places  from  the  Turks ;  for  Innocent,  as  treasurer 
of  the  crusades,  and  as  generalissimo  of  the  Christian 
forces,  was  quite  alive  to  the  opportunity  which  this 
European  folly  presented  for  the  aggrandizement  of  the 
Papacy ;  and  it  is  not  surprising  that  he  was  the  most 
strenuous  patron  of  the  movement.  It  is  said  that  of 
the  immense  wealth  which  poured  into  his  coffers  from 
all  quarters,  not  a  little  remained  there  •  whilst  he 
augmented  the  revenues  of  the  State  by  retaining  cer- 
tain taxes  levied  at  first  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  on 
the  holy  war2.     The  principles  which   governed   his 

1  '  The  Pope  and  the  Council/  by  Janus. 

2  '  British  Quarterly  Review,'  vol.  xiv. 


56  THE   TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

actions  found  apt  expression  in  the  maxim  which  he 
proudly  adopted,  that  cthe  Pope,  in  virtue  of  the 
plenitude  of  his  power,  might  dispense  even  with 
rights.'  For  a  period  of  fifty  years,  and  through  a 
succession  of  short  Pontificates,  the  Roman  See  being 
more  than  once  vacant,  the  contests  between  Pope  and 
Emperor  continued ;  the  grounds  of  quarrel  being 
generally  frivolous,  often  absurd,  whilst  the  result  was 
prejudicial  to  the  power  of  each. 

Rudolph,  the  founder  of  the  Hapsburg  dynasty,  was 
elected  to  fill  the  Imperial  throne,  a.d.  1273.  The 
misery  which  their  Italian  possessions,  and  ecclesias- 
tical quarrels,  had  entailed  upon  his  predecessors,  de- 
termined him  to  pursue  a  policy  of  non-intervention 
with  regard  to  Rome.  By  a  formal  deed  he  resigned 
all  pretension  to  the  territories  claimed  by  the  Church, 
and  to  the  long-disputed  bequests  of  the  Countess 
Matilda.  It  is  said  that  in  his  horror  of  coming  into 
collision  with  the  power  which  had  consumed  so  many 
German  kings,  he  unintentionally  surrendered  by  this 
deed  territories  belonging  to  the  kingdom  of  Italy, 
to  which  the  Papal  See  could  show  no  title1.  This 
grant  comprised  all  those  districts  which  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  Pontificate  of  Pius  IX  formed  the 
States  of  the  Church,  and  by  a  subsequent  compact, 
Corsica,  Sardinia,  and  Sicily  were  included  in  the 
original  grant. 

From  this  point  begins  a  new  era  in  the  history  of 
the  Papal  claims.  The  Papacy  had  acquired  a  signal 
triumph  in  its  establishment  of  the  independence  of 
the  Emperor,  but  it  clearly  severed  the  links  which  had 
made  the  Holy  Roman  Church  and  the  Holy  Roman 
1  Butt's  <  History  of  Italy.' 


III.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  57 

Empire  one  and  the  same  thing  in  two  aspects,  a  mystic 
dualism,  corresponding  to  the  two  natures  of  its  founder. 
c  As  divine  and  eternal,  its  head  is  the  Pope,  to  whom 
souls  have  been  entrusted  ;  as  human  and  temporal,  the 
Emperor,  commissioned  to  rule  men's,  bodies  and  acts.' 
Such  was  the  theory  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire  •  the 
self-consistent  scheme  of  the  union  of  Church  and 
State.  But  the  Emperor  and  the  Pope  were  the  cham- 
pions of  opposite  systems,  and  the  Papal  independence, 
which  was  the  result  of  their  frequent  collisions,  severed 
the  links  which  bound  together  the  world-monarchy  and 
the  world-religion.  Thus  c  the  very  triumphs  in  which 
the  Papal  power  asserted  its  separate  and  distinct 
sovereignty,  were  the  destruction  of  that  venerable 
polity  by  which  its  framers  intended  that  all  the 
Western  world  should  be  united  in  one  great  con- 
federation of  Church  and  State.  When  the  Emperor 
resigned  all  power  in  Rome,  the  Holy  Roman  Empire 
survived  only  as  a  name1.' 

'  Men  are  we,  and  must  grieve  when  even  the  name 
Of  that  which  once  was  great  has  passed  away ! ' 

Although  the  Pontiffs  were  now  free  from  all  com- 
petition with  the  Imperial  power,  their  sovereignty  was 
little  more  than  nominal.  The  republics  continued 
free,  and  the  feudal  lords  not  only  retained  their 
virtual  sovereignty,  but  in  some  instances  obtained  a 
confirmation  of  it,  as  the  price  of  their  recognition  of 
the  supremacy  of  the  Pope. 

The  power  of  the  Church  in  relation  to  the  State  was 
visibly  declining.     In  the  conflicts  in  which  the  Pope    ^ 
and  the   Emperor  were  soon  again  involved,  and  in 

1  Butt's  '  History  of  Italy.' 


58  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

the  contest  for  supremacy  between  the  Greek  and  the 
Roman  Churches,  much  that  had  been  gained  by  Inno- 
cent was  again  lost.  The  Roman  people  had  come  to 
regard  the  Pontiff  as  merely  their  titular  sovereign  -y  and 
although  the  temporal  authority  of  the  Pontiffs  varied 
according  to  their  personal  character,  their  sovereign 
power  was  brought  within  the  narrowest  limits,  whilst 
the  schism  between  the  rival  Churches  became  perma- 
nent. The  struggle  for  the  gradual  recovery  of  power 
was,  though  intermittent,  long  and  embittered.  By 
slow  degrees  it  was  accomplished,  but  not  until  the 
insatiable  ambition  of  the  Pontiffs  had  weaned  from 
them  the  respect  and  the  willing  obedience  of  their 
subjects,  and  greatly  impaired  the  Papal  authority  in 
its  most  essential  particulars.  The  whole  secular  and 
religious  literature  of  Europe  grew  intensely  hostile  to 
the  Papacy.  What  used  to  be  called  the  Roman  Church 
had  become  the  Roman  court.  Enlightened  men  had 
long  foreseen  the  change,  and  lifted  up  their  warning 
voice  in  vain.  Shade  of  Hildebrand !  the  fatal  power 
with  which  you  endowed  the  Church  has  transformed 
her  into  a  mass  of  corruption,  selling  the  souls  of  the 
elect  for  the  sake  of  filthy  lucre.  The  simony  against 
which  you  warred  is  now  exalted  in  high  places,  so  that 
cthe  little  finger  of  the  curia  presses  more  heavily  on 
the  Church  than  ever  the  arm  of  Kings ! '  The  hatred 
and  contempt  of  the  world  troubled  not  those  who  were 
secure  in  the  service  of  such  a  power,  neither  were  they 
moved  by  such  strange  prophecies  as  that  of  the  highly 
honoured  St.  Hildegard,  who,  as  early  as  a.d.  1170,  had 
uttered  the  following  remarkable  prediction  of  the 
Popes,  which  is  preserved  in  the  collections  of  Baluze 
and  Mansi : — cThey  seize  upon  us,  like  ravening  beasts, 


III.]  OF    THE  PAPACY.  59 

with  their  power  of  binding  and  loosing,  and  through 
them  the  whole  Church  is  withered.  They  desire  to 
subjugate  the  kingdoms  of  the  world,  but  the  nations  will 
rise  against  them  and  the  too  rich  and  haughty  clergy, 
whose  property  they  will  reduce  to  its  right  limits.  The 
pride  of  the  Popes,  who  no  longer  observe  any  religion, 
will  be  brought  low ;  Rome  and  its  immediate  neigh- 
bourhood will  alone  be  left  to  them,  partly  in  conse- 
quence of  wars,  partly  by  the  common  agreement  of 
the  States.5 

The  court  of  Rome,  corrupt  from  its  cradle,  and  in: 
susceptible  of  reform,  was  strong  in  proportion  as  the 
ignorance  of  the  people  was  great.  In  its  new  conflicts 
with  the  Empire,  ending  in  that  arrangement  which 
Catholic  historians  have  called,  with  a  mixture  of 
pathos  and  irony,  cthe  Seventy  Years'  Captivity,'  it 
learned  that  the  ignorance  engendered  by  superstition 
is  not  illimitable. 

The  authority  claimed  by  the  Emperor  was  not  the  only, 
nor  indeed  the  most  formidable,  obstacle  against  which 
the  Popes  had  to  contend.  The  people  of  Rome  mani- 
fested a  growing  dislike  both  to  Papal  and  Imperial 
rule,  and  a  preference,  which  upon  occasion  they  did 
not  fail  to  avow,  for  a  republican  form  of  government. 
And  yet  more  formidable  was  the  antagonism  of  a  proud, 
restless,  and  ferocious  nobility,  many  of  whom  boasted 
of  their  lineal  descent  from  the  great  families  of  an- 
tiquity. Commanding  the  services  of  numerous  and 
disorderly  bands  of  retainers,  they  waged  incessant 
warfare  against  each  other,  and  against  the  constituted 
authorities.  Taking  possession  of  the  ancient  monu- 
ments of  Rome,  such  as  the  Mausoleum  of  Adrian,  the 
Colosseum,  and  the  theatres,   which  Popes  and   Em- 


6o  THE    TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

perors  alike  suffered  to  fall  into  unregretted  decay, 
they  converted  them  into  strong  fortresses,  which 
enabled  them  to  defy  the  supremacy  claimed  by  the 
Papal  and  Imperial  powers. 

Four  influences  were  now  contending  for  mastery  at 
Rome — the  Empire,  the  Pope,  the  feudal  Barons,  and 
the  Republicans.  True,  the  long-disputed  claim  of  the 
Pontiff  to  the  sovereignty  of  Rome  had  been  conceded 
by  the  Emperor ;  but  the  Popes,  being  unable  to  control 
either  the  lawless  violence  of  the  nobles,  or  the  repub- 
lican independence  of  the  city,  it  was  but  too  likely 
that  plausible  pretexts  would  be  found  for  the  renewal 
of  Imperial  intervention.  The  Roman  Constitution 
itself,  fixed  by  a  charter  of  Celestine  III,  a.d.  1191,  re- 
cognized the  existence  of  Republican  institutions,  and 
thus  afforded  ground  for  investing  such  interposition 
with  at  least  a  show  of  legality.  The  c Senate'  of  Rome 
had  conferred  their  authority  upon  one  individual, 
under  the  title  of  Senator,  who,  like  the  Podesta  of 
other  towns,  was  armed  with  almost  dictatorial  powers. 
We  have  seen  that  Innocent  III  obliged  the  Senator  to 
take  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  himself  rather  than  to 
the  Emperor.  Since  the  death  of  Innocent,  the  Re- 
publican institutions  had  maintained  their  authority 
independent  of  that  of  the  Pope,  and  there  was  nothing 
to  hinder  the  investiture  of  the  Emperor  himself  with 
the  office  of  Senator,  thereby  securing  him  a  legal  right 
to  exercise  his  power  in  the  capital  of  Christendom. 
r"  The  election  of  Charles  of  Anjou  to  the  office  of 
\  Senator  removed  this  source  of  danger,  but  it  neither 
\  curbed  the  republican  spirit  nor  checked  the  disorders 
[_to  which  the  city  was  a  prey. 

It  will  be  convenient,  at  this  point,  to  glance  briefly 


III.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  6 1 

at  the  administrative  system  of  the  Papal  court,  as  con- 
stituted in  the  thirteenth  century.  The  sacred  college 
was  composed  of  three  orders  of  cardinals ;  cardinal 
deacons,  cardinal  priests,  and  cardinal  bishops.  The 
first  of  these  were,  originally,  seven  in  number  (after- 
wards increased  to  fourteen),  their  number  and  the 
duties  of  their  office  answering  to  the  Apostolic  insti- 
tution. The  cardinal  priests  were  the  chief  priests  of 
the  principal  churches  in  Rome,  and  enjoyed  the  same 
rank  as  the  cardinal  deacons,  with  whom,  in  early 
times,  they  formed  the  presbytery  of  the  Bishop  of 
Rome.  In  the  ninth  century  the  highest  order  of  car- 
dinals, the  cardinal  bishop,  was  created.  Originally 
these  were  the  bishops  of  the  seven  dioceses  nearest  to 
Rome,  but  in  course  of  time  the  number  was  greatly 
extended,  and  the  bishops  of  distant,  and  even  of  foreign 
Sees,  were  admitted  to  the  order.  These  three  orders 
of  cardinals  constituted  the  Pope's  Privy  Council,  and, 
with  other  high  ecclesiastics,  who  assisted  in  the  ex- 
ecutive administration,  formed  the  Roman  curia.  Lay- 
men were  not  wholly  excluded.  Amongst  the  large 
number  of  Papal  officers, —  especially  in  the  cum- 
bersome machinery  for  the  administration  of  justice, 
composed  of  three  separate  courts,  one  only  of  which 
was  limited  to  cardinals  of  the  Church,  under  the  per-  • 
sonal  presidency  of  the  Pontiff,— we  occasionally  find 
subordinate  departments  presided  over  by  a  layman. 
From  the  executive  government  the  laity  were  wholly 
excluded.  The  Papal  treasury  was  enriched  by  a  traffic 
in  those  minor  offices  which  were  open  to  laymen,  and 
which  conferred  the  importance — divested  of  the  re- 
sponsibility of  power  which  alone  constitutes  the  value 
of  office  to  the  statesman — attaching  to  a  member  of 


6z  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

the  Roman  curia.  Such  was  the  court  of  Rome.  Its 
head  an  infallible  priest ;  his  advisers  all  ecclesiastics, 
partaking  the  characteristics  of  the  ecclesiastics  of  the 
times,  ignorant,  haughty,  selfish;  pledged  to  the  root- 
ing out  of  all  independence  of  thought,  of  all  civil 
liberty.  And  against  it  was  arrayed  the  equal  pride 
and  obstinacy  of  the  nobles ;  the  growing  ambition  and 
restless  activity  of  the  Republicans ;  the  crushing  power 
of  the  Empire. 

A  conspicuous  feature  of  the  annals  of  the  Papacy 
during  the  thirteenth  century  is  the  famous  dispute 
between  the  Guelphs  and  the  Ghibellines,  the  latter  the 
supporters  of  the  Emperor,  the  former1  contending  for 
the  independence  and  supremacy  of  the  Church.  The 
effects  of  the  evil  spirit  of  discord  thus  engendered, 
may  be  traced  in  the  history  of  this  period  in  every 
state,  and  in  every  city,  of  Italy.  The  merits  of  these 
feuds  are,  for  the  most  part,  so  involved,  that  the  task 
of  seeking  to  unravel  them  would  be  tedious  and  vain. 
Contemporary  historians,  in  their  endeavours  to  eluci- 
date them,  betray,  in  their  mutual  criminations,  their 
own  strong  prejudices,  and  consequent  untrust worthi- 
ness. The  scenes  of  turbulence  to  which  these  feuds 
gave  rise,  whether  occasioned  by  differences  as  to  the 
forms  of  government,  or  by  more  contemptible  but  not 
less  mischievous  causes,  had  an  important  bearing  upon 

1  The  party  names  of  Guelph  and  Ghibelline  had  been  known 
in  Italy  at  a  much  earlier  date.  The  Ghibellines  were  the  Im- 
perial nobles,  the  aristocracy  of  the  social  body.  The  body  of 
the  people  were  Guelphs,  who,  when  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical 
powers  were  in  antagonism,  named  themselves  after  the  party  pro- 
fessing attachment  to  the  Church,  only  because  the  Papacy  was 
in  opposition  to  the  Empire.  See  '  Trollope's  History  of  the 
Commonwealth  of  Florence.' 


III.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  6$ 

the  extension  of  the  Papal  authority ;  .the  Pope  being 
often  appealed  to  as  arbiter ;  and  although  only  a  tem- 
porary compromise  might  thus  be  effected,  the  recog- 
nition of  the  right  of  Papal  intervention  was  an  element 
of  power,  to  which  Rome  was  not  indifferent. 

The  elevation  of  the  house  of  Anjou  to  the  Sicilian 
throne  was  an  inestimable  advantage  to  the  Papacy, 
the  most  formidable  danger  to  the  independence  of 
which  lay  in  the  union  of  the  kingdom  of  Naples  with 
the  Imperial  crown.  The  influence  of  the  Guelph  party 
was  now  transferred  to  the  royal  family  of  France,  who 
speedily  acquired  a  predominant  influence  in  the  Pen- 
insula. But  the  Sicilian  prince,  who  was  Senator  of 
Rome,  aspired  also  to  become  her  master ;  and  although 
his  ambitious  projects  were  defeated,  the  triumph  which 
the  Pope  had  achieved  in  wresting  the  Sicilian  crown 
from  the  Emperor  was  attended  with  disastrous  con- 
sequences to  the  Papacy  itself.  An  attempt  was  made, 
by  the  extensive  nomination  of  cardinals,  which  Charles 
was  able  to  accomplish,  to  bring  the  Pontificate  ex- 
clusively into  French  hands.  Opposed,  however,  to  the 
projects  of  this  Franco-Guelphine  alliance,  was  a 
powerful  party  closely  allied  with  the  leading  families 
of  Rome.  The  election  of  Boniface  VIII,  a.d.  1294 
(of  whom  it  has  been  said  that  he  was  c  the  last  of  the 
Popes,'  in  that  sense  in  which  Brutus  and  Cassius  were 
the  last  of  the  Romans),  who  was  sworn  to  uphold  the 
temporal  and  spiritual  supremacy  of  the  Roman  See, 
and  to  rescue  the  Papacy  from  the  entanglements  in 
which  it  was  becoming  involved,  brought  this  Roman 
party,  who  were  entirely  hostile  to  France,  into  alliance 
with  the  patriotic  Guelphs.  The  consequent  confusion 
in  ecclesiastical  disputes  was  great ;  but  the  deliverance 


6\         THE   TEMPORAL  POWER    OF   THE  PAPACY, 


of  the  Papacy  from  the  troubles  and  dangers  inseparable 
from  the  threatened  French  domination,  was  an  in- 
calculable boon. 

From  this  period,  to  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
a  long  and  undistinguished  interval  occurs.  It  was, 
indeed,  an  age  of  advancement ;  and  though  uninterest- 
ing as  regards  the  development  of  the  Papal  power,  was 
in  many  respects  highly  brilliant.  Whilst  the  discovery 
of  printing  gave,  throughout  Europe,  a  tremendous  im- 
pulse to  intellectual  cultivation,  Italy  displayed  an  in- 
tellectual superiority  unequalled  since  the  overthrow  of 
the  Roman  Empire;  but,  says  Hallam1,  cHer  political 
history  presents  a  labyrinth  of  petty  facts'so  obscure  and 
of  so  little  influence  as  not  to  arrest  the  attention,  so 
intricate  and  incapable  of  classification  as  to  leave  only 
confusion  in  the  memory.  The  general  events  that  are 
worthy  of  notice,  and  give  a  character  to  this  long 
period,  are  the  establishment  of  small  tyrannies  upon 
the  ruins  of  Republican  government  in  most  of  the 
cities,  the  gradual  rise  of  three  considerable  states, 
Milan,  Florence,  and  Venice,  the  naval  and  commercial 
rivalry  between  the  last  city  and  Genoa,  the  final  ac- 
quisition by  the  Popes  of  their  present  territorial 
sovereignty,  and  the  revolution  in  the  kingdom  of 
Naples  under  the  lines  of  Anjou  and  Aragon7 

1  'History  of  the  Middle  Ages,'  vol.  i. 


CHAPTER  IV, 


The  ecclesiastical  disputes,  to  which  reference  was 
made  in  the  last  chapter,  were  embittered  by  the 
personal  quarrel  between  Philip  IV  of  France  and  Pope 
Boniface  VIII.  This  Pontiff,  who  in  his  mad  ambition 
styled  himself  c  Pontiff  and  Emperor,'  assumed  the 
second  crown  of  the  Tiara ;  the  third,  completing  the 
symbol  of  Pontifical  dignity,  as  High  Priest,  Emperor, 
and  King,  being  added  twenty  years  later  by  John  XXII. 
'  Boniface  was  in  the  habit  of  appearing  in  public  bearing 
the  sword  in  one  hand  and  the  keys  of  St.  Peter  in  the 
other ;  nor  did  he  scruple  to  declare  that  the  Pope  was 
exalted  by  God  above  monarchs  and  monarchies,  held 
the  first  rank  upon  earth,  and  was  gifted  with  miracu- 
lous power.  His  conclusion  from  these  premises  had  at 
least  the  element  of  consistency.  c  The  secular  autho- 
rity,' he  affirmed,  c  was  merely  an  emanation  from  the 
ecclesiastical;  the  double  power  of  the  Pope  was  an 
article  of  faith,  and  submission  to  the  Roman  Pontiff 

NECESSARY   TO   SALVATION.' 

Had  Boniface  possessed  the  subtlety  of  Innocent  III, 
he  would  have  conducted  his  quarrel  with  the  wary  and 
cautious  king  with  greater  prudence.  He  chose  the 
most  objectionable  instruments  to  support  his  arrogant 
assumptions  at  the  French  court,  and  the  dictatorial 
and  threatening  tone  which  they  adopted  towards 
Philip  entirely  defeated  the  object  of  their  mission. 
Not  content  with  administering  reproof  to  the  King 

F 


66  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

for  the  delinquencies  of  his  past  life,  and  haughtily  de- 
manding reformation  for  the  future,  Boniface  now  pro- 
ceeded to  convene  a  Council  in  Rome,  charged  with  the 
duty  of  reforming  all  the  abuses  that  existed  in  the 
court  and  kingdom  of  France  1.  To  this  Council  the 
;  French  clergy  were  summoned,  and  the  King  himself 
\  was  cited  to  appear  and  answer  the  charges  preferred 
against  him.  Herein  Boniface  plainly  overstepped  the 
limits  of  prudence.  His  motives  are  obvious.  To  have 
placed  Philip  at  once  under  an  interdict  would  have 
been  a  more  congenial  method  of  procedure  to  the  im- 
perious Pontiff.  But  the  spiritual  weapons  of  the 
Church  had  been  too  frequently  employed  by  the  later 
Popes,  and  often  in  circumstances  in  which  it  was  im- 
possible that  they  should  be  followed  by  their  intended 
consequences.  In  the  isolated  instances  in  which  they 
had  been  operative,  they  had  occasioned  inconveniencies 
so  wholly  disproportioned  to  the  evils  for  which  their 
chastisement  was  imposed,  that  the  jealousy  of  govern- 
ments and  nations  was  aroused.  Measures  were  every- 
where devised  to  counteract  their  consequences.  Ex- 
communications and  interdicts  had  begun  to  lose  their 
force,  and  were,  in  fact,  already  regarded  as  mere  for- 
malities, dependent  for  their  efficacy  upon  a  concurring 
public  opinion.  No  one  was  more  cognizant  of  this  fact 
than  Boniface.  Hence  his  resort  to  the  expedient  of  a 
Council,  the  King's  refusal  to  appear  before  which,  and 
submit  to  the  judgment  of  God  and  of  the  Pope,  might 
involve  him  in  a  quarrel  with  his  own  subjects.  The 
way  would  thus  be  prepared  for  an  interdict  which, 
deriving  its  force  from  the  religious  instinct  of  the 
nation,   would   be   invested   with  all   its   primogenial 

1  Riddle's  '  History  of  the  Papacy.' 


IV.]  OF    THE   PAPACY,  6 J 

terrors.  But  Boniface  had  too  much  presumed  upon  the 
waning  powers  of  the  Papacy.  Philip,  determined  te-i 
show  the  real  strength  of  his  opposition,  immediately  \ 
assembled  a  large  parliament  in  Paris,  who  unanimously 
affirmed  that  in  temporal  matters  they  owed  fealty  to 
none  but  God  and  their  King ;  and  the  French  clergy 
were  prohibited  from  attending  the  Council. 

Diplomacy  was  not,  in  those  days,  characterized  by 
the  modern  refinements  which  darken  counsel;  and 
Philip  did  not  hesitate  to  rebuke  the  presumption  of 
Boniface  in  such  words  as  these, — c  There  were  Kings 
in  France  before  there  were  bishops,  and  he  would  rule 
within  his  realm  in  total  disregard  of  what  such  a 
blinded,  fraudulent,  demoniacal  pretender  could  say.5 
The  quarrel  had  now  become  a  mortal  one.  At  the 
parliament  which  Philip  had  assembled  in  Paris,  a  series 
of  resolutions  were  passed,  denouncing  the  Pope  as  a 
heretic,  simoniacal,  corrupt,  and  a  pretender.  Boniface 
had  already  entered  into  a  new  alliance  with  the 
Emperor,  whom  he  hoped  to  persuade  into  a  declara- 
tion of  war  with  France.  Encouraged  also  by  the 
devotion  manifested  by  many  of  the  French  clergy, — no 
less  than  four  archbishops,  thirty-five  bishops,  and  seven 
abbots  having  repaired  to  Rome  in  spite  of  the  prohibi- 
tion of  Philip, — he  took  the  only  course  open  to  him, 
and  excommunicated  the  King.  Philip  forthwith  con- 
fiscated the  property  of  the  recalcitrant  bishops,  and  \ 
proceeded  to  summon  a  second  assembly  of  the  States 
General  at  Paris,  which  sanctioned  the  adoption  of 
measures  for  convening  a  general  Council  that  should 
have  power  to  judge  and  depose  the  Pope.  A  proceed-  _ 
ing  at  once  so  irregular  and  unprecedented  can  hardly 
have  been  seriously  entertained  by  Philip.     It  has  been 

(UNIVERSITY 


68  THE   TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

suggested    that   his   object   was    cto   take    precaution 
against  any  act  of  the  Pope  in  deposing  himself,  and 
absolving  his  subjects  from  their  allegiance  ;  a  measure 
which  he  adopted  in  the  form  of  an  appeal  to  the  pro- 
r  jected  Council,  and  to  the  new  Pope  whom  that  Council 
\   should  elect, — an  appeal  which  speedily  received  the 
\  adhesion  of  all  communities  and  classes  of  men  through- 
out the  kingdom.' 
*"     The  bull  of  excommunication  was  to  have  been  pub- 
lished on  the  eighth  of  September.     On  the  seventh  the 
Pope   was   attacked    by   a    troop   of   banditti,   taken 
prisoner,  and  conveyed  away  on  a  miserable  horse  with 
his  face  to  the  tail.     He  was  rescued  and  conveyed  to 
Rome,  only  to  be  again  seized  and  imprisoned.     His 
death,  the  cause  of  which  must  ever  remain  a  mystery, 
occurred  within  a  month  from  the  date  of  his  first  im- 
prisonment/] 

Benedict  Xr,  who  succeeded  Boniface,  a.d.  1303, 
commenced  his  reign  by  fulminating  threats  against 
Philip,  to  which  the  King  responded  by  distributing 
large  sums  of  money  amongst  the  cardinals.  A  strong 
French  party  was  by  this  means  established  in  the  con- 
clave ;  and  Philip  looked  forward  with  confidence  to  the 
next  vacancy  of  the  Pontificate  for  the  desired  opportu- 
nity of  bringing  his  long  quarrel  with  the  Holy  See  to  a 
successful  issue.  It  occurred  sooner  than  was  expected. 
One  evening,  whilst  the  Pope  was  at  supper,  a  girl, 
closely  veiled,  presented  a  basket  of  figs.  In  an  un- 
guarded moment  the  Pontiff  partook  of  them ». without 
the  customary  precaution  of  having  them  first  tasted, 
and  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  King's  pious  wish,  c  that 
he  was  in  heaven,'  was  fulfilled,  for,  ere  morning,  the 
Pope  was  dead.     Philip  was  prepared.     He  had  secured 


IV.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  69 

from  Bernard  de  Got,  Archbishop  of  Bordeaux,  a  man 
low  born,  mean-spirited,  and  of  dissolute  life,  a  pledge 
of  complete  subserviency  if  he  were  elected  Pontiff.  A 
command  was  despatched  to  the  servile  conclave,  and 
Bernard  was  elected,  assuming  the  title  of  Clement  V. 

We  have  now  reached  one  of  the  most  important 
epochs  in  the  history  of  the  Papacy.  The  relationships 
subsisting  between  Clement  V  and  the  French  King, 
and  the  momentous  bearing  of  these  upon  the  temporal 
power  of  the  Papacy,  are  well  described  in  the  follow- 
ing passage  which  I  quote  from  a  work  that  is  only  too 
little  known 1 : — c  Of  all  the  concessions  to  the  demands 
of  Philip  which  were  made  by  Clement,  at  the  very 
commencement  of  his  Pontificate,  the  most  compre- 
hensive and  important  was  that  of  enacting  that  the 
Papal  residence  should  be  fixed  within  the  limits  of 
France.  By  this  means  the  King  of  France  had  the 
Pope  completely  in  a  state  of  dependence  upon  himself, 
and  henceforward  it  became  his  policy,  and  that  of  his 
successors,  not  to  work  the  complete  overthrow  of  the 
Papal  power,  but  to  perpetuate  and  uphold  it,  so  far  as 
it  could  be  made  instrumental  in  favour  of;  France ;  but 
the  new  Pontiff  carefully  concealed,  as  far  as  possible, 
his  state  of  dependence  on  the  French  crown.  His 
obligation  to  reside  in  France  was  kept  for  some  time 
as  a  profound  secret,  even  from  the  French  party  among 
the  cardinals,  and  when  the  continuance  of  his  sojourn 
in  that  country,  during  several  successive  years,  began 
to  give  rise  to  suspicion,  the  circumstances  of  the  times 
were  pleaded  in  excuse,  not  without  some  effect.  At 
first  no  particular  place  of  residence  was  chosen,  but 

1  '  The  History  of  the  Papacy  to  the  Period  of  the  Reforma- 
tion,' by  the  Rev.  J.  E.  Riddle,  M.A.  2  vols.  8vo.   Bentley,  1854. 


70  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

Clement  removed  with  his  court  from  one  town  or 
monastery  to  another.  At  the  end  of  about  five  years, 
however,  the  intentions  of  the  Pontiff,  and  his  real 
position  with  regard  to  Philip,  could  no  longer  be  con- 
cealed, and  Clement  fixed  his  residence  at  Avignon, 
which  was  in  the  territory  of  the  Count  of  Provence, 
and  as  part  of  the  kingdom  of  Burgundy,  was  nominally 
under  the  protection  of  the  German  Emperor.  Im- 
mediately upon  his  accession  Clement  granted  Philip 
the  tenth  of  all  Church  property  in  France  for  the 
space  of  five  years;  he  also  nominated  ten  French 
cardinals.' 

During  the  nine  years  of  his  Pontificate  Clement 
remained  the  obsequious  tool  of  the  unscrupulous  King, 
whilst  Italy,  abandoned  by  both  Emperor  and  Pope,  fell 
a  prey  to  disorders  fomented  by  the  contests  between 
the  Guelphs  and  the  Ghibellines.  Both  Philip  and 
Clement  died  a.d.  13 14. 

The  new  Emperor,  Henry  VII,  had  resolved  upon 
recovering  the  ancient  Imperial  rights  in  Italy,  and,  in 
spite  of  the  opposition  of  the  Guelphs,  prevailed  upon 
the  Pope  to  perform  the  ceremony  of  coronation.  Bu* 
as  Henry  advanced  his  claims,  it  soon  became  apparent 
that  he  would  encounter  the  stern  and  uncompromising 
opposition  of  the  Pontiff,  who,  after  some  parleying, 
pronounced  against  him  the  sentence  of  excommunica- 
tion. The  old  contest  for  supremacy  was  thus  resusci- 
tated j  but  the  early  death  of  the  Emperor  terminated 
the  struggle,  and  contributed  to  uphold  the  influence 
of  the  Holy  See.  Although  the  name  survived,  the 
Imperial  power  in  Italy  terminated  with  the  life 
of  Henry  VII.  The  advantages  to  the  Papal  preten- 
sions resulting  from  the  struggle  for  supremacy  which 


IV.]  OF   THE  PAPACY,  J I 

the  Popes  maintained  against  Louis  of  Bavaria,  must 
be  assigned  to  the  effeminacy  of  the  Emperor.  The 
Popes  still  claimed  the  right  of  confirming  Imperial 
elections,  and  of  receiving  upon  his  coronation  an  oath 
of  fealty  from  the  Emperor.  The  claim,  however,  was 
contested,  and  it  was  expressly  disallowed  by  a  Diet 
held  at  Frankfort  in  1338,  which  established  cas  a 
fundamental  principle  that  the  Imperial  dignity  de- 
pended upon  God  alone,  and  that  whoever  should  be 
chosen  by  a  majority  of  the  electors  became  immedi- 
ately both  king  and  emperor,  with  all  prerogatives  of 
that  station,  and  did  not  require  the  approbation  of  the 
Pope  V 

For  seventy  years,  during  which  Italy  was  torn  by  the 
contests  of  Guelphs  and  Ghibellines,  of  rival  Popes  and 
rival  Emperors,  the  seat  of  the  Papacy  remained  at 
Avignon,  Rome  being  abandoned  to  the  vicarial 
government  of  a  legate,  whose  authority  was  merely 
titular.  Seven  Popes  in  succession  reigned  in  this 
luxurious,  but  dissolute  and  corrupt  retreat,  until  a.d. 
1376,  when  the  promise,  often  repeated  and  long  de- 
layed, was  fulfilled,  and  Gregory  XI  returned  to  Rome. 
Nine  years  earlier,  Urban  V,  instigated  by  the  indig- 
nation of  Europe  at  the  abandonment  of  the  tomb  of 
St.  Peter,  had,  to  the  great  joy  of  the  Romans,  trans- 
ferred the  Papal  court  to  Rome.  Since  the  days*  of 
Adrian  IV,  no  such  recognition  of  the  supremacy  of 
the  Roman  Pontiff  had  been  exacted,  as  was  then 
accorded  by  the  Emperor  Charles  IV,  whom  the 
astonished  citizens  beheld  in  solemn  procession  leading 
the  Pope's  horse  from  the  Castle  of  St.  Angelo  to  the 
church  of  St.  Peter's.  But  Urban  V  cared  less  for  the 
1  Hallam's  <  Middle  Ages.' 


J 2  THE   TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

exaltation  of  the  Papacy  than  for  his  own  sensual  in- 
dulgence. After  remaining  in  Rome  hardly  more  than 
two  years,  he  declared,  to  the  utter  astonishment  of  his 
subjects,  that  c  regard  to  the  general  good  of  the  Church 
rendered  it  his  duty  to  return  to  France.'  The  people 
were  incensed ; — the  old  Ghibelline  sect,  which,  forty 
years  earlier,  had  been  instrumental  in  elevating  Louis 
of  Bavaria  to  the  Imperial  throne,  and  procuring  the 
deposition  of  John  XXII, — reappeared,  strengthened 
by  recruits  from  every  province  and  town  in  the  Ponti- 
fical States.  In  Rome  they  encountered  only  the 
feeblest  opposition,  the  French  legates  having  called 
into  existence  a  formidable  combination  hostile  to  the 
power  of  the  Church. 

It  was  to  suppress  these  disorders,  and  in  obedience  to 
the  summons — c  In  the  name  of  God ' —  of  St.  Catherine 
of  Sienna,  that  Gregory  XI  returned  to  Rome  in  1376. 
This  extraordinary  fanatic,  the  fame  of  whose  sanctity 
was  coextensive  with  the  profession  of  the  Christian 
faith,  had  performed  a  pilgrimage  on  foot  from  Florence 
to  Avignon,  that  she  might  personally  plead  with  the 
Pope,  and  entreat  him  to  restore  peace  to  troubled 
Italy,  by  again  taking  possession  of  his  See.  The 
narration  by  this  simple,  pious  woman,  of  the  atrocities 
which  were  being  perpetrated  in  Italy  in  his  name,  and 
the  reproaches  of  some  of  the  bishops  by  whom  her  suit 
was  sustained,  appear  to  have  touched  the  conscience  of 
Gregory.  In  spite  of  the  opposition  of  the  cardinals,  to 
whom  the  prospect  of  exchanging  the  licence  of  the 
Papal  court  at  Avignon,  for  the  sterner  morals  and 
more  arduous  duties  of  Rome,  was  anything  but  accept- 
able, Gregory  set  out  for  Italy.  As  he  sailed  up  the 
Tiber  he  was  greeted  with  enthusiasm  •  but  the  Romans, 


IV.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  J  3 

mindful  of  the  brief  sojourn  of  Urban  V  in  his  capital, 
received  him  with  indifference.  Their  distrust  was 
well  founded,  for  it  was  only  the  sudden  death  of  the 
Pontiff  in  1378  that  prevented  his  emulating  the  ex- 
ample of  Urban  and  returning  to  Avignon.  The 
mission  of  St.  Catherine,  however,  had  been  successful. 
The  Pope  had  been  restored  to  Rome  •  there  too  he  had 
died ;  and  there,  in  accordance  with  immemorial  custom, 
the  conclave  must  assemble  to  elect  his  successor. 

In  forsaking  an  Imperial  city,  the  source  of  all  their 
claims  to  sovereign  authority,  for  a  foreign  provincial 
town,  the  Pontiffs  had  exchanged  supremacy  for  subor- 
dination. And  this  was  done  at  a  time  when  the  Im- 
perial power  was  least  able,  and  least  disposed,  to  con- 
test the  claim,  in  asserting  which  so  many  of  the 
representatives  upon  earth  of  the  Prince  of  Peace  had 
expended,  without  compunction,  the  blood  and  treasure 
of  their  subjects.  As  the  power  of  the  Pontiffs  was 
crippled,  their  characteristic  vices  were  unfolded. 
Haughtiness,  greed,  and  sensuality  polluted  the  Papal 
chair;  whilst  Europe  smiled  contemptuously  at  as- 
sumptions which  were  simply  ludicrous  in  the  person 
of  the  captive  at  Avignon.  It  should,  however,  be 
borne  in  mind  that,  however  much  the  transfer  of  the 
Papal  court  to  Avignon  was  the  act  of  the  French 
King ;  however  much  its  prolonged  sojourn  there  cor- 
roborates the  testimony  of  history  to  the  dissolute 
characters  of  the  Pontiffs,  who  practised,  there,  vices 
which  would  not  be  tolerated  in  Rome ;  or  reflects 
upon  the  courage  and  fidelity  of  the  chief  shepherd  of 
the  Church  upon  earth,  in  pusillanimously  forsaking  the 
post  of  duty  and  of  difficulty,  for  the  luxury  and  ease  of  a 
secure  and  profligate  retreat ;  it  was  in  no  small  degree 


74  THE    TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

attributable  to  the  freedom  it  enjoyed  from  the  con- 
tending factions  which,  in  Rome,  had  constantly  dis- 
turbed its  serenity,  and  endangered  the  recognition  of 
its  authority.  In  one  respect,  at  least,  the  world  was 
a  gainer  by  the  result,  for  the  Papacy  never  did,  and 
never  will,  recover  the  hold  which  it  lost  upon  the 
minds  of  men. 

A  universal  insurrection  ensued  upon  the  death  of 
Gregory  XL  Almost  every  town  in  the  Papal  States 
rose  to  assert  the  freedom  of  the  people  from  the 
tyranny  of  the  French  legates.  In  Rome  anarchy 
reigned  triumphant.  Bereft  of  the  wealth  which,  as 
the  seat  of  the  Pontifical  court,  Christendom  had 
poured  into  its  lap,  the  city  had  nothing  to  sustain  its 
greatness.  Piety  attracted  no  pilgrims ;  nor  did  the 
museum  of  the  world  bring  visitors,  whose  lives  and 
persons  were  at  the  mercy  of  lawless  violence.  No 
industry  there  found  a  centre.  The  arts  were  not  culti- 
vated ;  and  it  is  said  that  the  population  had  dwindled 
to  1 7,000,  whilst  grass  grew  in  the  streets !  And  this 
was  the  Rome  of  the  Caesars!  This,  the  once  proud 
mistress  of  the  world,  whose  palaces ,  under  the  Empire, 
were  more  numerous  than  its  Inhabitants  under  Gregory 
XI  j  whilst  its  amphitheatres,  constructed  to  seat 
80,000  and  100,000  spectators,  were  too  limited  to 
accommodate  the  crowds  which  thronged  them,  until  the 
Circus  Maximus,  enlarged  from  time  to  time,  to  meet 
the  requirements  of  the  public,  finally  afforded  accom- 
modation to  385,000  spectators,  or  more  than  twenty 
times  the  number  of  the  entire  population  of  the  city 
under  Gregory  XL  The  extent  of  the  population  of 
Rome,  under  the  Empire,  has  been  a  subject  of  much 
vexed  controversy.     The  above-mentioned   fact  is  in 


IV.]  OF    THE   PAPACY.  75 

itself  sufficiently  suggestive  of  its  enormous  extent, 
and  after  a  careful  study  of  much  that  has  been  written 
on  the  subject,  I  hold  it  within  the  region  of  proof  that, 
inclusive  of  both  sexes,  it  must  have  reached  and  most 
probably  exceeded  5,000,000  souls  K 

The  contrast  between  Imperial  Rome  and  the  in- 
significant town  under  the  priestly  rule  of  a  libertine 
Pope,  with  its  mixture  of  licence  and  superstition,  of 
pomp  and  humility,  of  luxury  and  fasting,  of  tyranny  and 
subserviency,  is  too  glaring  to  be  easily  realized.  Ages 
since  her  glory  had  departed,  and  how  utter  was  her 
degradation!  In  the  fourteenth  century,  c  Rome/  says 
Ranke, c  was  become  a  city  of  herdsmen ;  its  inhabitants 
were  not  distinguishable  from  the  peasants  of  the 
neighbouring  country.  The  hills  had  long  been  aban- 
doned, and  the  only  part  inhabited  was  the  plain  along 
the  windings  of  the  Tiber ;  there  was  no  pavement  in 
the  narrow  streets,  and  these  were  rendered  yet  darker 
by  the  balconies  and  the  buttresses  which  propped  one 
house  against  another ;  the  cattle  wandered  about  as  in 
a  village.  From  S.  Silvestro  to  the  Porta  del  Popola,  all 
was  garden  and  marsh,  the  haunt  of  flocks  of  wild 
ducks.  The  very  memory  of  antiquity  seemed  almost 
effaced ;  the  Capitol  was  become  the  Goats'  Hill  (Monte 
Caprino),  the  Forum  Romanum^  the  Cows'  Field  (Campo 
Vaccino).  The  strangest  legends  were  associated  with 
the  few  remaining  monuments/ 

It  is  impossible  to  fix  the  precise  date  at  which  the 
site  of  the  ancient  city  became  deserted;  but  it  is 
certain  that   early   in   the  ninth   century  there    were, 

1  An  admirable  resume  of  this  controversy  is  given  by  Mr. 
Story  in  an  Appendix  to  the  second  volume  of  his  '  Roba  di 
Roma.' 


7 6  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

within  Rome  itself,  cultivated  lands  of  considerable 
extent^  a  circumstance  for  which  the  calamities  which 
befel  the  city  during  the  sixth,  seventh,  and  eighth 
centuries  would  account.  cAn  earthquake,'  says  Lord 
Broughton, c  shook  the  Forum  of  Peace  for  seven  days  in 
the  year  408,  but  such  were  the  convulsions  of  nature 
during  the  succeeding  century  that  Gregory  the  Great 
naturally  supposed  the  evils  of  which  he  had  himself 
been  the  witness  to  be  the  principal  cause  of  the  ruin 
around  him.  To  the  earthquakes,  tempests,  and  inun- 
dations, he  attributed  not  only  the  depopulation  of  the 
city  but  the  fall  of  her  dwellings,  the  crumbling  of  her 
bones.  The  rise  of  the  Tiber  is  specified  as  having 
overthrown  many  of  the  ancient  edifices.  Pestilence 
and  famine  within  the  walls,  and  the  Lombards  with- 
out, had  reduced  her  to  a  wilderness,  and  it  is  to  be 
believed  that  the  population  shrunk  at  that  period  from 
many  spots  never  afterwards  inhabited/  And  again, c  A 
scarcity  in  the  year  604,  a  violent  earthquake  a  few 
years  afterwards,  a  pestilence  in  or  about  the  year  678, 
five  tremendous  inundations  of  the  Tiber  from  680  to 
797,  a  second  famine  in  the  Pontificate  of  Pope  Con- 
stantine,  which  continued  for  six-and-thirty  months,  a 
pestilence  in  the  last  year  of  the  seventh  century,  and 
the  assault  of  the  Lombards  for  three  months  under 
Astolphus  in  755, — these  are  the  events  which  compose 
the  Roman  history  of  this  unhappy  period  V 

The  almost  total  demoralization  of  the  Romans  had 
not;  however,  wholly  obscured  the  memory  of  their  past 
greatness.  The  indications  of  national  feelings  and 
aspirations  were  faint  and  partial ;  their  incapacity  for 
self-government  was  notorious ;  but  not  less  so  was 
1  Lord  Broughton's  'Visits  to  Italy,'  1816-1854.    2  vols. 


IV.]  OF   THE  PAPACY,  J  J 

their  antipathy  to  foreign  intervention,  and  pre-emi- 
nently to  that  of  France. 

On  the  demise  of  Gregory  XI,  the  populace  sur- 
rounded the  palace  in  which  the  conclave  was  assem- 
bled to  elect  his  successor,  and  clamoured,  with  threats 
and  imprecations,  for  the  election  of  a  Roman,  or  at 
least  an  Italian  Pope.  They  even  menaced  death  to 
the  cardinals  if  they  did  not  immediately  give  them  a 
Roman  Pontiff.  c A  Roman  Pope!  A  Roman  Pope!' 
was  the  cry  to  which  the  streets  of  Rome  echoed 
throughout  the  night;  whilst  the  tumult  in  the  con- 
clave, if  less  loud,  was  hardly  less  angry.  c  If, '  cried 
the  excited  populace,  cye  persist  to  do  despite  to 
Christ,  if  we  have  not  a  Roman  Pope,  we  will  hew 
these  cardinals  and  Frenchmen  in  pieces  V  French 
influence,  however,  was  in  the  ascendant.  Constrained 
by  the  threatening  attitude  of  the  Roman  people,  the 
electors  did  not,  indeed,  dare  to  nominate  a  Frenchman,- 
but  resorted  to  the  artifice  of  fixing  upon  a  temporary 
Pontiff,  who  promised  not  to  avail  himself  of  their 
nomination,  and  took,  merely  for  form's  sake,  the  title 
of  Urban  VI.  But  the  new  Pope,  full  of  national  sym- 
pathies, determined  upon  reducing  the  influence  of 
France  among  the  cardinals,  and  employed  his  first 
exercise  of  Apostolic  authority  in  freeing  himself  from 
the  oaths  which  he  had  taken.  The  astonished  and 
affronted  cardinals  proceeded  forthwith  to  the  election 
of  a  rival  from  amongst  themselves,  on  the  plea  that 
the  election  of  Urban  was  invalid,  having  been  effected 
under  the  pressure  of  intimidation.  The  Pontiff  offered 
to  submit  the  validity  of  his  election  to  the  decision  of 
a  General  Council,  but  the  cardinals,  who  were  now 

1  Milman's  '  Latin  Christianity.' 


78  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

protected  at  Anagne  by  the  presence  of  French  troops, 
declined  all  negotiation,  and  proceeded  to  elect  Robert 
of  Geneva,  who  assumed  the  title  of  Clement  VII 
(Anti-Pope).  France,  Scotland,  (then  in  alliance  with 
France,)  and  Naples  accepted  the  Frenchman,  whose 
highest  qualification  for  the  tiara  was  that  he  was 
reputed  a  sagacious  and  experienced  politician ;  whilst 
the  greater  part  of  Christendom,  including  England, 
adhered  to  his  Italian  rival  \ 

Clement  VII  established  his  court  at  Avignon,  whilst 
Urban  VI  remained  in  Rome.  There  was  now  there- 
fore a  Pope  and  an  Anti-Pope.  Thus  commenced  the 
great  schism,  which  for  eight-and-thirty  years  scandal- 
ized Europe.  c  Two  popes,'  says  Macaulay,  c  each  with 
a  doubtful  title,  made  all  Europe  ring  with  their  mutual 
invectives  and  anathemas.  Rome  cried  out  against 
the  corruptions  of  Avignon ;  and  Avignon,  with  equal 
justice,  recriminated  on  Rome.  The  plain  Christian 
people,  brought  up  in  the  belief  that  it  was  a  sacred 
duty  to  be  in  communion  with  the  head  of  the  Church, 
were  unable  to  discover,  amidst  conflicting  testimonies 
and  conflicting  arguments,  to  which  of  the  two  worth- 
less priests,  who  were  cursing  and  reviling  each  other, 
the  headship  of  the  Church  rightly  belonged  V     We  are 

1  The  qualifications  which  recommended  the  Cardinal  of 
Geneva,  were  rather  those  of  a  successor  to  John  Hawkwood 
or  to  a  Duke  of  Milan,  than  of  the  Apostles.  '  Extraordinary 
activity  of  body  and  endurance  of  fatigue,  courage  which  would 
hazard  his  life  to  put  down  the  intrusive  Pope,  sagacity  and  ex- 
perience in  the  temporal  affairs  of  the  Church;  high  birth, 
through  which  he  was  allied  with  most  of  the  royal  and  princely 
houses  of  Europe :  of  austerity,  devotion,  learning,  charity, 
holiness,  not  a  word.' — Dean  Milman's  '  Latin  Christianity.' 

2  Macaulay's  '  Miscellanies,'  vol.  ii. 


IV.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  79 

told  by  Maroni  that,  in  order  to  avoid  the  penalty  of 
excommunication  through  rejecting  the  true  Vicar  of 
Christ,  good  catholics  reserved  their  obedience  for  which- 
ever was  the  canonical  Pope  ! 

Each  Pontiff  had  his  partizans  in  every  country  of 
Europe,  and  the  bitterness  thus  engendered  amongst 
courts  and  peoples,  who  cared  little  for  either  Pontiff, 
and  were  impatient  of  the  growing  scandal,  soon 
begot  a  hatred  of  both;  whilst,  here  and  there,  a 
dislike  of  the  Popedom  itself  was  awakened.  The 
inextricable  labyrinth  in  which  the  adherents  of  Papal 
infallibility  were  involved  was  insupportably  perplexing. 
c  Their  belief/  remark  the  authors  of c  The  Pope  and  the 
Council/  c  necessarily  implied  that  the  particular  indi- 
vidual who  is  in  sole  possession  of  all  truth,  and 
bestows  on  the  whole  Church  the  certainty  of  its  faith, 
must  be  always  and  undoubtingly  acknowledged  as  such. 
There  can  as  little  be  any  uncertainty  allowed  about 
the  person  of  the  right  Pope  as  about  the  books  of 
Scripture.  Yet  every  one  at  that  period  must  at  bottom 
have  been  aware  that  the  mere  accident  of  what  country 
he  lived  in  determined  which  Pope  he  adhered  to,  and 
that  all  he  knew  of  his  Pope's  legitimacy  was  that  half 
Christendom  rejected  it.' 

The  Papal  supremacy  was  openly  assailed  by  the 
Lollards,  as  a  corruption  of  Christianity;  and  in 
England  and  Bohemia,  though  Wycliffe  died  early, 
and  Huss  and  Jerome  perished  at  the  stake,  the  stream 

of  light, 

1 a  rivulet,  then  a  river/ 

had  begun  to  flow,  which  was  destined,  in  the  Provi- 
dence of  God,  to  grow  with  ever-increasing  splendour, 
until  all  lands  were  enlightened  by  it. 


CHAPTER   V. 


The  fifteenth  century  was  a  transition  period  both 
in  the  political  and  the  religious  history  of  Europe.  It 
belongs  neither  to  the  Middle  Ages  nor  to  modern  his- 
tory. We  cannot  here  trace  the  transition  from  the 
feudalism  of  the  Middle  Ages  to  the  independent  forms 
of  monarchy  which,  as  the  century  advanced,  became 
established  in  Europe ;  but  the  fact  should  be  borne  in 
mind,  as  we  come  to  consider  the  altered,  and  other- 
wise inexplicable,  relationships  of  the  Papacy  to  the 
secular  powers,  especially  during  that  direful  struggle 
for  supremacy  between  France  and  Spaing  which  ended 
in  the  subjugation  of  Italy  to  the  latter  powen 

It  was  a  fortunate  circumstance  that  no  questions  of 
religious  dogma  were  involved  in  the  schism  which  was 
wearying  the  patience  of  Christendom.  But  the  im- 
portunate entreaties,  and  even  threats,  of  the  civil 
powers,  and  particularly  that  of  France,  failed  to  make 
any  impression  upon  the  obstinate  selfishness  of  the 
rival  Pontiffs.  The  abdication  of  both  Popes,  and  a 
new  election  to  the  Papal  throne,  were  the  only  means 
whereby  peace  could  be  restored  to  the  Church.  Of 
this,  even  the  cardinals  who  had  adhered  with  unbend- 
ing obstinacy  to  their  respective  chiefs,  at  length  be- 
came convinced.  Wise  in  their  generation,  they  re- 
cognized and  controlled,  as  a  means  of  securing  harmony 
to  the  Church,  that  public  opinion  which,  whilst  be- 
lieving in  the  necessity  of  its  existence,  insisted  upon 


THE    TEMPORAL   POWER   OF   THE  PAPACY.         8 1 

its  purification,  and  clamoured  for  the  limitation  of 
Papal  despotism.  Hence  originated  the  Council  of 
Pisa,  which,  failing  to  command  the  universal  recog- 
nition of  Christendom,  only  embittered  the  schism  by 
the  introduction  of  a  third  pretender  to  the  tiara. 

The  famous  Council  of  Constance  was  brought  to- 
gether at  the  instance  of  the  Emperor  Sigismund, 
a.d.  1414,  for  the  avowed  purpose  of  healing  the  schism, 
of  extirpating  heresy,  and  of  reforming  the  Church,  in 
her  head  and  in  her  members.  This  Council,  which 
asserted  itself  to  be  under  the  direct  inspiration  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  continued  its  profitless  labours  for  four 
years. 

It  was  hard  necessity  only  which  had  driven  Pope 
John  XXIII  into  a  close  alliance  with  the  Emperor, 
who  had  determined  to  heal  the  schism  by  summoning 
a  General  Council  from  which  it  was  at  least  possible 
that  John l  might  emanate  a  private  man.  Such,  how- 
ever, was  the  hard  but  necessary  condition  of  the 
powerful  and  all-important  alliance.  When,  therefore, 
John  XXIII  had  determined  to  submit  to  the  inevitable 
Council,  he  firmly  resolved  not  to  trust  himself  within 
the  dominions  of  the  Emperor.  His  indignation  was 
stirred  when  he  learned  that  his  commissioners  had 
agreed  with  Sigismund  to  select  the  Imperial  city  of 
Constance  for  the  meeting-place  of  the  Council.  He 
now  determined  to  take  the  negotiations  into  his  own 
hands,  and  arranged  a  personal  interview  with  the 
Emperor  at  Lodi,  trusting  to  his  powers  of  persuasion 
to  overcome  the  obduracy  of  Sigismund,  and  to  win  his 

1  '  The  worst  and  most  abused  man  to  be  found,  when  his  bad- 
ness had  been  thoroughly  exposed  in  the  Council  at  Constance.' 

UNIVERSIT 

OF 


82  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

assent  to  the  nomination  of  some  Italian  city,  where 
the  independence  of  the  Council  would  be  less  secure. 
But  although  the  discussion  of  this  sore  point  was  con- 
ducted with  an  ostentatious  display  of  mutual  respect, 
Sigismund  was  immovable  in  his  decision.  Imperial 
letters  and  a  Papal  bull  were  issued,  summoning  the 
General  Council 'of  Christendom  to  meet  at  Constance 
in  the  following  year.  The  Pope  and  Emperor  then 
proceeded  together  to  Cremona,  where  an  incident 
occurred  which  not  only  nearly  prevented  the  meeting 
of  the  projected  Council,  but  threatened  also  a  tre- 
mendous crisis  in  the  history  of  the  Papacy.  Fondoli, 
the  lord  of  Cremona,  who  entertained  his  illustrious 
guests  with  sumptuous  hospitality  conducted  them  to  a 
lofty  tower  to  survey  the  captivating  prospect  presented 
by  the  outspreading  plains  of  Lombardy.  Subsequently, 
upon  his  death-bed,  Fondoli  confessed  the  design,  which 
he  avowed  that  he  bitterly  repented  having  failed  to 
carry  into  execution,  of  hurling  both  Pope  and  Emperor 
from  the  summit  of  the  tower,  thus  securing  for  himself 
immortal  fame1. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  follow,  in  their  detail,  the  pro- 
ceedings of  this  famous  Council,  which  the  writings  of 
the  late  Dean  of  St.  Paul's  have  familiarized  to  every 
reader  of  ecclesiastical  history.  The  results  may  be 
thus  summarized.  They  deposed  two  Popes  and  obliged 
a  third  to  resign.  By  the  deposition  of  John  XXIII, 
and  the  election  of  Cardinal  Otho  di  Colonna  in  his 
room,  they  brought  the  Church  back  under  one  head. 
They  launched  a  fatal  blow  at  the  advancing  tide  of 
belief  in  Papal  infallibility,  by  declaring,  without  a 
single  dissentient  voice,  that  in  matters  of  faith  the 
5  Milman's  '  Latin  Christianity/     ' 


V.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  83 

Pope  is  subject  to  the  Council,  which  derives  its  au- 
thority immediately  from  Christ.  They  burned  John 
Huss  and  Jerome  of  Prague,  and  condemned  the 
writings  of  Wycliffe  to  the  flames.  But  they  igno- 
minious ly  failed,  as  completely  as  the  fathers  who  had 
assembled  at  Pisa,  a.d.  1409,  in  their  attempt  to  reform 
the  Church,  or  to  mitigate  the  corruptions  of  the  times, 
which  cried  aloud  for  heaven's  vengeance.  In  Italy  the 
vices  of  the  Church  had  produced  a  widespread  atheism, 
in  which  the  clergy  and  laity  were  alike  participators. 
c  Scepticism  was  so  general,'  says  Mr.  Dyer,  that  c  the 
Council  of  Lateran  thought  it  necessary  to  decree,  in  its 
eighth  session,  that  the  soul  of  man  is  not  only  immortal, 
but  also  distinct  in  each  individual,  and  not  a  portion 
of  one  and  the  same  soul.  Erasmus  knew  of  his  own 
knowledge  that  at  Rome  the  most  horrible  blasphemies 
were  uttered  by  the  priests,  and  sometimes  in  the  very 
act  of  saying  Mass ;  and  he  relates,  among  other  things, 
an  attempt  made  to  prove  to  him,  out  of  Pliny,  that 
there  is  no  difference  between  the  souls  of  beasts  and 
men.  Such  of  the  Italian  ecclesiastics  as  were  scholars 
prided  themselves  on  the  purity  of  their  Latin  style, 
which  they  were  fearful  of  corrupting  by  a  study  of  the 
Bible.  They  altered  the  language  of  Scripture  to  that 
of  Livy  or  Cicero:  Jehovah  became  Jupiter  Optimus 
Maximus ;  Christ,  Apollo  or  ^Esculapius ;  the  Virgin 
Mary,  Diana.  Cardinal  John  de  Medici,  afterwards 
Leo  X,  was  not  only  a  Platonist,  but,  if  he  had  any  re- 
ligion at  all,  rather  a  pagan  than  a  Christian,  and  he 
seems  to  have  inoculated  the  Romans  with  his  own 
opinions,  for  on  the  breaking  out  of  a  pestilence  at; 
Rome,  during  the  Pontificate  of  his  successor,  Adrian, 
a  bullock  was  sacrificed  on  the  ancient  Forum,  with 

g  2 


84  THE    TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

heathen  rites,  conducted  by  a  Greek  named  Demetrius, 
to  the  great  satisfaction  of  the  people  V  Hardly  a  writer 
of  the  fifteenth  century  fails  to  denounce  the  infidelity, 
ignorance,  and  profligacy  of  the  ecclesiastics  in  every 
part  of  Christendom.  c  In  England  the  priests  petitioned 
parliament,  a.d.  1449,  to  be  pardoned  for  all  rapes  com- 
mitted before  June  next^  as  well  as  to  be  excused  from 
all  forfeitures  for  taking  excessive  salaries,  provided 
they  paid  the  King  a  noble  (6s.  8^.)  for  every  priest  in 
the  kingdom.  The  petition  was  granted,  and  the 
statute  made  accordingly.  In  a.d.  1455  ^ie  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury  issued  an  order  denouncing  the  vices  of  his 
clergy,  their  gluttony,  drunkenness,  fornication,  ig- 
norance, pursuit  of  worldly  lucre,  dec.  It  appears  from 
a  decree  of  the  eleventh  session  of  the  Council  of 
Lateran,  that  some  ecclesiastics  derived  an  income 
from  the  stews ;  and  Innocent  VIII  found  it  necessary 
to  renew  by  a  bull,  published  in  April,  a.d.  1488,  the 
constitution  of  Pius  II,  forbidding  priests  to  keep 
butcheries,  taverns,  gaming-houses,  and  brothels,  and 
to  be  the  go-betweens  of  courtesans2.' 

The  Council  of  Pisa  had  resulted  in  the  creation  of 
three  infallible  heads  of  the  Church,  instead  of  two,  and 
the  abortive  and  simulative  labours  for  reform  of  its 
successor  at  Constance,  prepared  the  way  for  the  Re- 
formation. 

The  new  Pope  assumed  the  title  of  Martin  V,  and 
was  recognized  by  all  Europe.  Martin  was  an  accom- 
plished man  of  the  world.  The  Council  soon  discovered 
that,  by  electing  a  man  of  character,  they  had  given 
themselves  a  master  to  whom  it  was  less  easy  to  dictate 

1  Dyer's  '  Modern  Europe,'  vol.  U 

2  Ibid. 


V.]  OF    THE   PAPACY.  85 

than  to  a  John  XXIII.  Martin,  by  his  firmness  and 
decision,  succeeded  in  rendering  nugatory  the  measures 
which  the  Council  had  adopted  for  the  reform  of  abuses. 
The  Council  was  at  the  Pope's  mercy.  He  dismissed 
the  assembled  Prelates  with  the  bland  assurance  that 
their  work  was  accomplished  j  but  not  until  he  had 
published  a  bull,  which  he  caused  to  be  read  in  the 
Council,  declaring  all  appeal  from  a  Pope  to  a  Council 
unlawful  and  prohibited.  Further,  by  the  election  of  a 
Pontiff  capable  of  reviving  the  waning  reverence  of 
Christendom,  the  Council  of  Constance,  which  had 
threatened  to  shake  the  Papal  supremacy  to  its  founda- 
tions, had  really  confirmed  and  strengthened  its  au- 
thority ;  and  both  the  Emperor,  who  chafed  under  the 
consciousness  that  he  had  sunk  to  a  subordinate  position, 
and  the  assembled  Prelates,  who  felt  themselves  baffled, 
and  fallen  under  the  incontestable  supremacy  of  the 
Pope,  were  as  anxious  to  be  released  from  their  irk- 
some imprisonment,  as  Martin  V  was  to  release  them1. 
After  a  slow  progress  through  Italy,  Martin  entered 
Rome  in  triumph,  a.d.  1421,  as  the  absolute  sovereign 
of  the  city,  and  quietly  asserted  all  the  unrevoked 
authority  which  had  been  conceded  to  Innocent  III. 
The  currency,  which  for  three  hundred  years  had  borne 
the  arms  of  the  Senate,  now  displayed  the  effigy  of  the 
sovereign  Pontiff.  But  the  spirit  of  republicanism  sur- 
vived, and  the  Pope  was  not  master  of  a  single  city  in 
the  Papal  territory  besides  Rome.  The  doctrines  of 
Huss  had  now  obtained  a  firm  footing  in  Germany ;  and 
the  indignation  which  was  felt  at  the  perfidy  of  Sigis- 
mund,  in  violating  the  safe-conduct  which  had  induced 
him  to  appear  before  the  Council,  intensified  the  de- 
1  Milman's  '  Latin  Christianity.' 


86  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

mand  for  a  final  settlement  of  the  great  question  at 
issue ; — whether  the  long-endured  and  still  agressive 
tyranny  of  Rome  might  not  be  overridden  by  the  de- 
cisions of  a  General  Council. 

Throughout  Christendom  dissatisfaction  was  felt  at 
the  issue  of  the  Council  of  Constance;  and  the  assump- 
tion, by  Martin  V,  of  all  the  haughty  demeanour  and 
language  of  former  Pontiffs ;  his  interference  in  the 
disposal  of  wealthy  benefices  in  Germany;  his  insulting 
usurpation  of  the  undisputed  primacy  of  the  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  and  vigorous  efforts  to  suppress  the 
growing  spirit  of  independence  in  England  ;  his  denun- 
ciations of  Henry  V  for  his  aggression  on  the  Church, 
particularly  in  enforcing  the  Statute  of  Premunire, 
which  subjected  all  persons  bringing  Papal  bulls  into 
the  kingdom  to  perpetual  imprisonment ;  by  which  c  ex- 
ecrable statute  the  King  of  England  has  so  entirely 
usurped  the  spiritual  jurisdiction,  as  if  our  Saviour  had 
constituted  him  his  vicar;' — these  assumptions  of  the 
imperious  Pontiff  gave  new  energy  to  the  cry  for  a  final 
settlement  of  the  question  of  Papal  jurisdiction.  Hence 
originated  the  famous  Council  of  Basle,  a.d.  1431,  the 
last  of  the  three  great  Councils  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
which,  by  reasserting  the  supremacy  of  the  decisions 
of  a  General  Council,  even  over  a  Pontiff,  contributed 
the  most  powerful  check  to  the  usurpations  of  Rome. 
Martin  V  lived  only  to  see  the  opening  of  the  Council 
whose  decrees  were  so  fatal  to  his  assumptions.  A 
stroke  of  apoplexy  introduced  him  to  the  majority  be- 
fore its  deliberations  had  commenced. 

The  new  Pope,  Eugcnius  IV,  of  course  dissented 
from  a  decree  which  endangered  the  recognition  of  his 
infallibility,  and  made  him  the  creature  of  the  Council, 


\\]  OF    THE  PAPACY,  87 

whose  members,  however,  proceeded  to  enforce  their 
decision  by  declaring  his  deposition. 

Eugenius  had  summoned  the  Council  sorely  against 
his  will,  apprehending  that  negotiations  might  be 
opened  with  the  Hussites,  a  growing  disposition  to 
which  had  been  recently  manifested ;  but  the  resolution 
of  all  sections  of  the  Church,  both  lay  and  ecclesiastical, 
backed  by  the  will  of  Sigismund,  constrained  him  to 
compliance.  Thrice  he  issued  an  edict  of  dismissal, 
c  on  account  of  the  fewness  of  those  present/  threaten- 
ing anathemas  in  the  event  of  disobedience ;  but  the 
reverend  Fathers  refused  to  disperse,  alleging  that  they 
constituted  the  one  true  (Ecumenical  Council,  whose 
powers  had  been  already  declared  c  superior  to  the 
Pope/  Eugenius  denounced  the  reverend  Fathers  as  a 
Synagogue  of  Satan.  The  negotiations  with  the  Greek 
Emperor  respecting  the  reunion  of  the  Churches 
afforded  him  the  desired  pretext  for  convening  a  rival 
Synod  in  Italy ;  he  therefore  declared  that  the  Council 
sat  only  by  his  permission,  and  derived  from  him  its 
limited  authority,  and  determined  to  summon  a  rival 
Council  at  Fcrrara.  A  Papal  legate  appeared  at  Basle 
to  propose  the  removal  of  the  Council  to  one  of  the 
great  cities  of  Italy,  of  which  the  Pontiff  offered  the 
choice  of  seven.  By  a  majority  of  two-thirds  the 
Council  rejected  the  proposal,  well  knowing  that  all 
hope  of  reforming  the  Church  would  be  lost  in  a 
Council  which,  assembling  on  Italian  soil,  would  be  at 
once  flooded  with  local  bishops  and  the  officials  of  the 
curia.  Hence  they  were  prepared  to  adopt  the  extremest 
measures,  and  received  with  indifference  the  protesta- 
tions of  Eugenius.  The  rival  Council  quickly  assembled 
at  Ferrara,  and  as  the  feud  became  more  violent  and 


88  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

irreconcilable,  it  was  transferred,  for  greater  con- 
venience and  security,  to  Florence.  Here  it  declared 
that,  c  It  alone,  inasmuch  as  it  had  been  summoned  by 
the  Pope,  constituted  a  true  (Ecumenical  Council,  whilst 
at  Basle  sat  a  beggarly  mob,  mere  vulgar  fellows  from 
the  lowest  dregs  of  the  clergy,  apostates,  blasphemers, 
rebels,  men  guilty  of  sacrilege,  jailbirds,  men  who, 
without  exception,  deserved  only  to  be  hunted  back  to 
the  devil,  from  whom  they  came.'  The  Council  at 
Basle  was  nothing  daunted  by  the  insults  and  anathemas 
of  its  rival,  which  it  returned  with  interest,  and  boldly 
declared  Eugenius  a  simonist,  perjurer,  and  irredeem- 
able heretic-  a  firebrand  of  discord;  a  waster  of  the 
goods  of  the  Church ;  a  rebel  against  God.  They  cited 
Eugenius  to  appear  before  them  at  Basle,  within  sixty 
days,  and  answer  for  his  acts.  At  the  expiration  of  this 
term  they  declared  the  Pope  contumacious,  and,  after 
some  delay,  in  solemn  convocation  they  pronounced  his 
deposition 1. 

The  factitious  importance  with  which  the  question  of 
the  union  of  the  Eastern  and  Western  Churches  had  be- 
come surrounded 2,  afforded  Eugenius  a  pretext  for  again 
insisting  upon  the  selection  of  some  Italian  city  as  the 
seat  of  the  Council.  The  Byzantine  Emperor,  John 
Palseologus,  whose  c  empire7  now  consisted  of  the  city  of 
Constantinople,  was  fain  to  accept  the  aid  of  the  West 
at  any  price.     In  his  hesitation  whether  to  close  with 

1  '  The  Mysteries  of  the  Vatican,'  by  Dr.  Griesinger. 

2  It  was  the  question  of  questions  for  Eugenius.  '  If  he  could 
meet  the  efforts  of  the  Synod  of  Basle  by  producing  the  testi- 
mony of  the  re-united  Eastern  Church  on  his  side,  it  would 
greatly  strengthen  his  case  in  the  public  opinion  of  the  whole 
West.' — '  The  Pope  and  the  Council.' 


V.]  OF   THE   PAPACY.  89 

the  emulous  invitations  of  the  Council  or  of  the  Pope, 
with  both  of  whom  he  entered  into  negotiations,  his 
sole  consideration  was  to  secure  the  most  powerful  ally 
against  the  Ottomans,  who  threatened  to  wrest  from 
him  the  last  vestige  of  the  Empire.  The  Patriarch 
Joseph,  though  he  yielded  with  reluctance  to  the  prin- 
ciple of  a  foreign  Council,  and  did  not  share  the  Em- 
peror's illusion  that  the  West  would  lay  itself  at  his 
feet,  elect  him  the  successor  of  Sigismund,  and  thus 
bring  about  a  reunion  of  the  great  Christian  Common- 
wealth under  one  sovereign  ],  concurred  with  him  in 
the  policy  of  accepting  the  invitation  of  the  Pope,  in 
preference  to  that  of  the  Council.  Joseph,  however, 
nourished  illusions  of  his  own,  which  encouraged  him 
in  the  difficult  task  of  persuading  the  heads  of  his 
Church  to  enter  into  the  dangerous  enterprise.  cWhen 
the  Eastern  Emperor  should  behold  the  pomp  of  the 
Pope,  the  lowly  deference  paid  to  their  ecclesiastical 
superiors  by  the  great  potentates  of  the  West,  he  would 
take  lessons  of  humility,  and  no  longer  mistake  the 
relative  dignity  of  the  spiritual  and  temporal  sove- 
reign 2.' 

The  Greeks  soon  had  occasion  to  suspect  that  Euge- 
nius  was  more  bent  upon  his  own  aggrandizement  than 
upon  the  vaunted  union  of  the  Churches.  The  artful 
attempts  which  they  witnessed  to  degrade  the  Patriarch 
from  his  absolute  co-equality  with  the  Pope,  aroused 
their  jealousy ;  and  the  concessions  of  the  Patriarch, 
whom  they  conceived  to  be  the  tool  of  the  Emperor, 
called  forth  their  bitter  reproaches.  Some  of  the 
bishops  contrived  to  effect  their  escape,  and  returned 

1  Milman's  '  Latin  Christianity.' 

2  '  Syropulus.'     Quoted  by  Dean  Milman. 


90  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

to  Constantinople,  for  which  act  of  contumacy  the 
indignant  Patriarch  commanded  their  suspension,  and 
sent  home  orders  that  they  should  be  '  soundly  flogged.' 
Whilst  these  miserable  disputes  were  raging,  the 
Emperor  was  too  much  amused  with  his  hunting  to 
expedite  their  suppression.  When,  at  length,  the 
Council  was  formally  opened, c  it  was  skilfully  contrived 
that,  while  there  was  the  most  irreverent  confusion 
amongst  the  Greeks,  the  Patriarch  was  treated  with 
studied  neglect,  the  Emperor  himself  with  reluctant 
and  parsimonious  honours,  the  Pope  maintained  his 
serene  dignity ;  all  the  homage  paid  to  him  was  skil- 
fully displayed  V 

We  must  not  linger  over  the  theological  discussions 
of  the  Council  of  Florence,  which  were  long  and 
furious.  Before  their  conclusion,  the  Emperor  Sigis- 
mund  and  the  Patriarch  Joseph  had  died.  Eugenius 
survived  to  dictate  his  own  terms.  An  act  of  union 
between  the  two  Churches  was  agreed  upon,  and 
heaven  and  earth  were  summoned  to  rejoice  over  the 
event.  But,  like  every  attempt  which  the  world  has 
witnessed  to  impose  uniformity  of  belief  upon  the 
minds  of  men,  involving  the  subversion  of  the  civil 
and  religious  liberties  of  the  people,  it  was  labour  lost. 
The  Patriarchal  theory  was  wholly  alien  to  the  system 
of  Rome,  and  every  overture  for  union,  during  two 
centuries,  had  encountered  the  uncompromising  hostility 
of  the  Greek  hierarchy.  The  spirit  which  animated 
their  response  to  John  XXIPs  demand  for  their  sub- 
mission still  survived.  c  Thy  plenary  power  over  thy 
subjects/  they  had  said,  c  we  firmly  believe ;  thine  im- 
measurable   pride    we   cannot  endure,   and  thy  greed 

1  Milman's  '  Latin  Christianity.' 


V.]  OF    THE   PAPACY.  9 1 

we  cannot  satisfy.  With  thee  is  Satan,  with  us  the 
Lord/  The  act  of  union  was  indeed  published  with 
the  most  imposing  solemnity  in  the  cathedral  of 
Florence,  where  now  rested  the  remains  of  the  Pa- 
triarch, whoSe  remonstrant  voice  death  had  silenced. 
But  it  was  a  dead  letter,  the  only  abiding  effect  of 
which  was  a  more  bitter  and  radical  estrangement 
between  the  rival  Churches.  c  The  Emperor,'  says 
Dean  Milman,  c  with  the  Greek  clergy,  returned  to 
Venice,  and,  after  a  long  and  fatiguing  navigation,  to 
Constantinople,  there  to  be  received,  not  as  the  sa- 
viour of  the  Empire  from  the  sword  of  the  Turks, 
not  as  the  wise  and  pious  reconciler  of  religious  dis- 
sension and  the  peacemaker  of  the  Church,  but  as  a 
traitor  to  his  own  imperial  dignity,  as  a  renegade  and 
an  apostate/ 

The  Council  of  Florence  thus  ended  in  an  appre- 
ciable confirmation  and  extension  of  the  power  and 
dignity  of  the  Pontiff.  Again  quoting  Dean  Milman, 
c  He,  of  all  the  successors  of  St.  Peter,  had  beheld  the 
Byzantine  Emperor  at  his  feet,  had  condescended  to 
dictate  terms  of  union  to  the  Greeks,  who  had  ac- 
knowledged the  superior  orthodoxy,  the  primacy  of 
Rome.  The  splendid  illusion  was  kept  up  by  the 
appearance  of  ecclesiastical  ambassadors — how  com- 
missioned, invested  with  what  authority  none  knew, 
none  now  know — from  the  more  remote  and  barbarous 
Churches  of  the  East,  from  the  uttermost  parts  of  the 
Christian  world.  The  Iberians,  Armenians,  the  Maron- 
ites  and  Jacobites  of  Syria,  the  Chaldean  Nestorians,  the 
Ethiopians,  successively  rendered  the  homage  of  their 
allegiance  to  the  one  supreme  head  of  Christendom  V 

1  Milman's  '  Latin  Christianity.' 


92  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

This  success  of  the  Pope  greatly  intensified  the 
hostility  of  the  Council  of  Basle.  Undeterred  by  the 
defection  of  the  temporal  princes,  who  shrank  from 
the  growing  democratic  tendencies  of  the  Council,  or 
by  the  tumultous  altercations  which  disgraced  its  pro- 
ceedings, they  had  already  proclaimed  the  deposition 
of  Eugenius.  The  Council  was  not  unanimous  in  pro- 
ceeding to  this  extreme  measure,  but  such  feeble 
opposition  as  was  offered, 

1  A  bitter  and  perplexed  "  What  shall  we  do  ? "  ' 
was  quickly  silenced,  in  this  fashion:  cYou  do  not 
know  us  Germans,'  exclaimed  the  Archbishop  of  Aqui- 
leia,  when  this  step  was  condemned  by  the  Cardinal 
of  Palermo.  cIf  you  go  on  thus,  you  will  hardly 
come  off  without  broken  heads.'  The  Council  was 
now  almost  wholly  composed  of  the  clergy  of  inferior 
rank.  Not  one  Spanish,  and  but  one  Italian,  bishop 
remained  to  give  a  show  of  validity  to  its  proceedings. 
Their  places  were  filled  by  archdeacons,  provosts,  and 
priors,  who  were  present  to  the  number  of  four  hun- 
dred. In  place  of  the  absent  bishops,  relics  of  famous 
saints  were  collected,  and  placed  in  the  hall  of  Council. 
At  this  solemn  appeal  to  the  saints  in  bliss,  we  are  told 
that  ca  transport  of  profound  devotion  seized  the  as- 
sembly ;  they  all  burst  into  tears '.'  The  edict  for  the 
deposition  of  Eugenius  was  soon  after  passed,  and  the 
Council,  which  contained  only  one  legitimate  elector, 
proceeded  to  the  election  of  his  successor. 

A  proposition  was  made  to  Amadeus,  the  ex-Duke  of 
Savoy,  to  accept  the  questionable  honour  of  the  tiara. 
After  some  demur,  the  Duke  signified  his  acquiescence. 

1  Dean  Milman. 


V.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  93 

The  difficulties  which  he  had  raised  were  not  such  as 
betokened  a  mind  capable  of  dealing  with  the  implac- 
able hatred  which  would,  of  necessity,  be  aroused  by 
the  assumption  of  the  functions  of  an  Anti-Pope.  The 
loss  of  his  hermit's  beard  appears  to  have  been  the 
sacrifice  most  reluctantly  made,  and  only  assented  to 
after  his  public  appearance  as  Pope,  when  his  ducal 
mind  seems  to  have  apprehended  the  unseemliness 
of  the  spectacle  presented  by  a  thick-bearded  Pope, 
surrounded  by  a  throng  of  closely-shaven  ecclesiastics. 

Schism  was  now  once  more  established.  Again,  and 
for  the  last  time,  we  see  a  Pope  and  an  Anti-Pope  hurl- 
ing their  spiritual  thunders  against  each  other.  But  we 
also  see,  what  we  have  not  seen  before,  the  indifference 
of  Christendom  to  the  squabbles  of  two  very  common- 
place Italian  priests,  aspirants  to  an  office  shorn,  by  its 
unworthy  occupants,  of  the  dignity  and  lustre  with 
which  the  great  Pontiffs  of  the  bygone  centuries  had 
surrounded  it. 

'Oh!   they  are  fled  the  light!   those  mighty  spirits 
Lie  rack'd  up  with  their  ashes  in  their  urns, 
And  not  a  spark  of  their  eternal  fire 
Glows  in  a  present  bosom  V  *  • 

Schism,  however,  was  an  odious  offence  to  Christen- 
dom, which  resented  with  scornful  reproaches  these 
results  of  a  system  which  was  felt  to  be  out  of  harmony 
with  the  spirit  and  the  requirements  of  the  age.  The 
rival  Popes  might  wage  a  warfare  with  the  pen,  and 
amuse  or  harass  themselves,  whilst  they  excited  the 
disgust  of  Europe  by  their  puerile  hate  and  harmless 
anathemas.     The  days  were  for  ever  past  when  such 

1  Johnson. 

trarivERs 

CiAt  x. * 


94  THE    TEMPORAL  POWER  \CHk£. 

a  condition  of  things  could  occasion  any  apprehension 
for  the  peace  of  the  world. 

Amadeus  assumed  the  title  of  Felix  V.  The  fact  of 
his  being  a  layman,  the  father  of  a  large  family,  and 
the  rightful  sovereign  of  one  of  the  kingdoms  of  this 
world,  being  urged  as  favourable  rather  than  disad- 
vantageous to  his  election  as  Pope.  One  of  the  de- 
baters in  the  Council  which  elected  Amadeus  to  the 
Papal  throne,  clenched  his  arguments  in  favour  of  the 
union  of  the  spiritual  and  temporal  powers  by  a  clumsy 
and  imperfectly  veiled  apology  for  the  profligate  lives 
of  the  Pontiffs.  It  was,  he  maintained,  an  advantage 
to  the  State  when  the  Pope  had  sons  of  his  own,  whose 
natural  vocation  it  would  be  to  resist  the  attacks  of 
tyrants.  In  three  days  the  ex-Duke  received  all  the 
orders  of  the  Church,  and  was  ordained  Priest,  Bishop, 
and  Sovereign-Pontiff.  History  thus  records  a  Pope 
amongst  the  lineal  ancestors  of  the  present  King  of 
Italy. 

Felix  was  denounced  by  Eugenius  as  a  c hell-dog5 
and  c  Antichrist,'  a  c  golden  calf  and  a  c  Mahomet  j' 
and  the  Council  at  Basle  as  c  devils  disguised  as  men,' 
who  had  set  up  the  idol  Moloch.  The  reader  will 
observe  that  these  Christian  epithets  were  employed 
not  by  the  Anti-Pope,  who,  having  usurped  the  chair  of 
the  Apostles,  had  no  infallibility  to  violate ;  they  are 
the  words  of  the  canonical  Pope,  the  successor  of  the 
Apostles,  the  Vicar  of  Christ.  They  have,  therefore, 
an  important  bearing  upon  Christian  ethics.  The  only 
Church  in  Christendom  which  claims  to  be  infallible 
is  chargeable,  in  the  person  of  its  supreme  head,  with 
the  abrogation  of  St.  Paul's  injunction  that  a  bishop  must 
be  c  of  good  behaviour,  .  .  .  patient,  not  a  brawler.5 


V.]  OF    THE   PAPACY.  95 

Felix  V  continued  to  discharge  the  functions  of 
Pope  for  a  period  of  ten  years,  when,  in  order  to  heal 
the  schism,  and  restore  peace  to  the  Church,  he  re 
signed  the  Pontificate  as  voluntarily,  and  probably  more 
gladly,  than  he  had  relinquished  his  ducal  crown.  This 
result  was  brought  about  by  the  new  Emperor,  Frede- 
rick III,  who  had  been  won  over  to  the  side  of  Euge- 
nius,  and,  in  March,  a.d.  1446,  proposed  conditions 
for  a  reconciliation  between  the  Pope  and  the  Council, 
which  the  former,  in  substance,  accepted. 

Eugenius  died  in  the  following  year,  and  Nicholas  V, 
who  succeeded  him,  immediately  notified  his  assent  to 
the  terms  of  reconciliation.  By  this  means  the  autho- 
rity of  the  Pope  was  upheld  against  the  Council  of 
Basle,  and  a  Concordat  was  concluded  between  Felix 
and  Nicholas ;  the  latter  confirming  in  their  offices  the 
cardinals  nominated  by  Felix,  annulling  the'  Papal 
censures  against  the  Pope  and  the  Council,  and  con- 
ceding the  decrees  of  Basle  as  concerning  promotions 
and  appointments  in  Germany.  At  the  same  time  the 
Pope  maintained  his  right,  when  occasion  should  re- 
quire, to  act  without  regard  to  the  provisions  of  the 
Concordat.  His  successor,  Calixtus  III,  openly  asserted 
the  same  claim,  declaring  to  the  Emperor  that  a  Pope 
could  not  be  bound  by  the  terms  of  any  compact,  and 
that,  in  so  far  as  he  observed  the  Concordat,  it  must  be 
regarded  as  a  pure  act  of  generosity  and  liberality  on 
his  part. 

Nicholas  V  was  now,  as  Pontiff^  a  great  Italian 
potentate ;  and  it  was  his  ambition  to  lay  the  founda- 
tion of  his  power  in  the  hearts  of  his  people — in  an 
honourable  claim  to  the  gratitude  of  Italy — and  in  this 
he  succeeded.     When  Italy  was  distracted  by  intestine 


i)6  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

war,  he  kept  no  large  army  in  his  pay,  and  protested 
that  he  would  never  employ  any  arms  but  those  of  the 
Cross  of  Christ.  Yet,  not  only  did  he  preserve  his  own 
territories  from  aggression,  but  he  became  the  pacificator 
of  Italy.  To  secure  to  Italy  that  undisturbed  peace  which 
should  be  favourable  to  the  moral  influence  of  the 
Papacy,  and  to  the  cultivation  of  the  arts,  which  he 
encouraged  with  lavish  generosity,  was  the  laudable 
ambition  of  Nicholas  V.  The  Jubilee  which  occurred 
during  his  Pontificate,  favoured  his  projects,  as  it  also 
extended  his  fame.  Pilgrims,  from  the  highest  ranks  of 
society,  swarmed  into  Rome  from  every  country  of 
Europe,  and  they  carried  back  with  them  the  praises  of 
the  Pontiff"  who,  by  his  personal  dignity,  the  munifi- 
cence of  his  patronage  of  the  arts,  his  irreproachable 
life,  and  his  successful  mediation  in  the  conflicts  to 
which  Italy  had  been  so  long  a  prey,  had  resuscitated  the 
majesty  of  the  Roman  Pontificate.  It  was  the  year  of 
Jubilee,  and  the  pleasing  illusion  was  cherished  that  one 
virtuous  and  gifted  Pontiff  could  re-establish,  through- 
out Christendom,  the  waning  power  of  the  Papacy. 

'  Some  there  be  that  shadows  kiss, 
Such  have  but  a  shadow's  bliss1.' 

In  the  matter  of  ecclesiastical  reform,  the  Council  of 
Basle  effected  no  more  than  its  predecessor  at  Con- 
stance. The  abuses  of  the  Papacy  were  more  mon- 
strous at  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century  than  at  any 
earlier  period;  whilst  Pius  II,  in  a  bull  bearing  date 
a.d.  1460,  condemned  the  principle  sanctioned  by  both 
Councils,  that  a  Council  is  superior  to  the  Pope ;  and 
Julius  II  annulled  altogether  the  decrees  of  the  Council 
of  Basle  2. 

1  Shakespeare.  2  Riddle's  '  History  of  the  Papacy.' 


V.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  97 

I  have  already  wandered,  however,  too  far  from  the 
subject  of  this  monograph,  which  is  concerned  only  with 
the  development  of  the  temporal  power  of  the  Papacy, 
and  must  pass  by  that  important  era  in  the  internal 
history  of  the  Roman  Church,  in  which  the  Papal 
monster  who  assumed  the  title  of  Alexander  VI,  and 
whose  scandalous  immorality  and  injustice  aroused  the 
horror  of  awakening  Europe,  held  sway  in  Rome. 
These  traits  were  not,  indeed,  monopolized  by  Alex- 
ander VI ;  but  however  much  they  may  have  character- 
ized other  Popes  of  his  time,  he  occupies,  in  one 
respect  at  least,  a  unique  position.  Far  from  regard- 
ing the  vicious  practices  of  his  predecessors  as  stains 
upon  the  Papal  escutcheon,  to  be  withdrawn  from  the 
public  gaze,  he  practised  them  without  attempt  at  con- 
cealment, and  was  the  most  notorious  profligate  of 
Europe,  discarding  the  conventional,  if  shallow,  tribute 
to  virtue,  which  led  other  Popes  to  term  their  offspring 
nephews^  he  openly  acknowledged  his  children  (of  whom 
the  famed  and  too  severely  censured  Lucrezia  Borgia 
was  the  youngest  and  most  beloved),  whose  aggrandize- 
ment was  the  chief  object  of  his  solicitude;  the  end, 
for  the  attainment  of  which  every  species  of  crime  was 
held  permissible. 


H 


CHAPTER    VI. 


During  the  latter  part  of  the  fifteenth  century  there 
was  no  well-organized  government  in  Rome.  The 
character  of  the  Popes  had  become  degraded  by  the 
political  strifes  in  which  they  were  perpetually  engaged. 
c  The  veil  woven  by  religious  awe/  says  Hallam,  c  was 
rent  asunder,  and  the  features  of  ordinary  ambition 
appeared  without  disguise.'  The  discovery  was  fatal  to 
Papal  authority.  As,  throughout  Europe,  the  covetous- 
ness  and  profligacy  of  the  clergy  had  lowered  their 
character  and  influence,  so  the  same  qualities,  more 
flagrantly  exercised  by  their  head,  undermined  the 
respect  which  was  essential  to  the  exercise  of  his  tem- 
poral sovereignty.  Towards  the  close  of  the  fifteenth 
century,  the  profligacy  of  the  Pontiffs,  c  more  notorious 
than  could  be  paralleled  in  the  darkest  age  that  had 
preceded 1 ',  must  be  regarded  as  the  foremost  amongst 
those  general  causes  which  heralded  the  decrepitude  of 
the  Papacy. 

Insignificant  nobles  and  tyrants,  hereditary  governors 
of  provinces,  were  able  to  set  the  temporal  power  of 
the  Pope  at  defiance. 

Throughout  the  two  centuries  which  had  elapsed  since 
the  death  of  Innocent  III,  the  struggle  on  the  part  of 
the  Church  against  the  State  had  been  concerning  its 
immunities  and  property;  its  attempts  to  extend  its 

1  Hallam's  <  Middle  Ages.' 


THE   TEMPORAL   POWER    OF   THE  PAPACY.        99 

legal  jurisdiction  in  criminal  matters ;  and  especially 
to  secure  for  ecclesiastics  freedom  from  the  jurisdiction 
of  civil  courts.  It  had  undoubtedly  acquired,  both  in  its 
ecclesiastical  and  civil  relations,  a  splendour  and  an 
appearance  of  strength  greater  than  it  had  ever  enjoyed 
before,  notwithstanding  the  curtailment  of  its  territorial 
possessions  and  power  under  the  later  Popes. 

The  human  intellect  had  as  yet  dreamed  of  no  road 
to  distinction  and  power  save  through  the  medium  of 
the  Church.  The  historians,  the  poets,  the  philoso- 
phers of  the  fifteenth  century,  had  their  domicile  in 
the  cloister.  Not  only  were  the  monks  the  canon 
lawyers,  but,  cas  far  as  it  was  known,  or  in  use,  the 
teachers  and  professors  of  the  civil  law  V  Education 
was  their  exclusive  privilege,  jealously  guarded,  and  ex- 
tended over  the  whole  domain  of  the  human  intellect. 
The  Church,  therefore,  attracted  to  itself  the  intellect 
of  the  age.  To  an  aspiring  mind  no  other  career  was 
open.  As  the  Church  grew  in  wealth  and  power,  the 
career  which  it  offered  to  men  gifted  with  intellectual 
capacity,  vied  with  the  tawdry  honours  of  a  decaying 
nobility ;  whilst  to  the  younger  sons  of  noble,  and  even 
princely  families,  and  to  the  illegitimate  offspring  of 
Popes  and  kings,  its  service  presented  an  irresistible 
attraction.  Qualifications  for  their  holy  calling  were 
not  insisted  upon  according  to  nineteenth-century 
notions ;  though  it  is  but  just  to  remark  that,  in  many 
cases,  these  aspirants  to  ecclesiastical  distinction  were 
characterized  by  high  intellectual  capacity,  austere 
morals,  and  genuine  piety.  Where  these  traits  were 
wanting,  that  which  Rome  valued  more  highly  was 
secured.     By  drawing  the  religious  teachers  from  every 

1  Dean  Milman. 
H  2 


IOO  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

class,  not  excepting  the  highest,  they  were  on  equal 
terms  with  every  class ;  by  the  inscription  of  famous 
names  in  the  roll  of  her  priesthood,  the  attachment  of 
powerful  families  was  secured,  which  thus  c  welded 
together,  as  it  were,  the  Church  with  the  State 1.' 
There  was  not  a  kingdom  in  Europe  in  which  educa- 
tion and  public  opinion  were  not  moulded  by  ecclesi- 
astics, bound  in  canonical  obedience  to  the  Pope  at 
Rome.  Their  intellectual  superiority  and  undisputed 
pre-eminence  in  the  administration  of  secular  affairs 
rendered  them  the  indispensable  coadjutors  of  the 
temporal  sovereigns.  It  is  not  their  intellectual  supe- 
riority alone  which  accounts  for  this.  ( It  resulted/  says 
Dean  Milman,  c  from  their  almost  exclusive  possession 
of  the  universal  European  language,  that  they  held  and 
retained  the  administration  of  public  affairs.  No  royal 
embassy  was  without  its  Prelate,  even  if  the  ambassa- 
dors were  not  all  Prelates,  for  they  only  could  converse 
freely  together  without  mutual  misunderstanding  of 
their  barbarous  jargon,  or  the  precarious  aid  of  an 
interpreter.  The  Latin  alone  was  as  yet  sufficiently 
precise  and  definite  in  its  terms  to  form  binding 
treaties;  it  was  the  one  language  current  throughout 
Europe;  it  was  of  necessity  that  of  all  negotiations 
between  distant  kingdoms  tf 

Here  and  there  we  catch  an  ominous  whisper  of  the 
rising  moral  indignation  inspired  by  this  universal 
lordship  of  the  human  conscience.  The  higher  in- 
tellects of  this  age,  the  men  who  were  the  real  leaders 
of  European  thought,  sneered  at  those  ceremonies  and 
beliefs  which,  as  princes  or  as  prelates,  they  were  paid 

1  Milman's  '  Latin  Christianity.'  2  Ibid. 


VI.]  OF    THE   PAPACY.  IOT 

to  maintain  l,  A  condition  of  things  so  shocking  to 
the  deep  instincts  of  spiritual  men,  who  mourned  over 
the  degeneracy  of  religion,  emboldened  those  cries  for 
reform  which  emanated  from  every  corner  of  Christen- 
dom and  found  an  echo  even  in  the  Vatican  itself.  The 
blind  opposition  of  Rome  to  this  moral  sentiment  was, 
indeed,  the  cause  of  her  fall ;  but  there  is  no  greater 
proof  of  the  power  of  the  Papacy  at  the  close  of  the 
fifteenth  century,  than  the  triumph  she  achieved  in  this 
universal  sacerdotal  domination.  Throughout  Christen- 
dom the  vast  fabric  of  the  hierarchy  stood  unshaken. 

Under  the  vigorous  rule  of  Julius  II,  c  the  warrior 
Pope'  (a.d.  1503)3  the  domains  of  the  Church,  which  had 
been  lost  by  his  predecessors,  were  recovered ;  and  the 
sovereignty  of  the  Pontiff  was  established  over  all  those 
territories  which,  down  to  the  period  of  the  French 
Revolution,  constituted  the  States  of  the  Church.  The 
acquisition  of  the  Legations,  however,  cannot  be  said 
to  have  extended  the  sovereignty  of  the  Pontiff  over 
these  districts.  The  Pope  contented  himself  with  im- 
posing a  Legate,  who  occupied  the  highest  place  in  the 
government,  transmitting  the  revenues  of  the  subject 
territory  to  Rome.  The  original  power  of  the  nobles, 
and  the  independent  corporations  of  the  cities  and 
monasteries,  remained  unmolested.  In  the  intoxica- 
tion of  his  first  success,  Julius  caused  a  medal  to  be 
struck,  representing  himself,  with  the  tiara  on  his  head 
and  a  whip  in  his  hand,  driving  the  French  before  him, 
and  trampling  under  foot  the  escutcheon  of  the  Valois. 
This  fact,  however  commonplace,  is  interesting  as 
affording  an  illustration  of  the  character  of  the  Pontiff 
who,  with  the  vanity  and  ambition  worthy  of  a  Boniface, 

1  Forbes,  Bishop  of  Brechin,  *  On  the  XXXIX  Articles.' 


102  THE    TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

united  a  fiery  and  vindictive  temper,  of  which  the  medal 
was  emblematical. 

It  has  been  said  of  Julius,  that  nature  made  him  a 
warrior,  and  destiny  a  priest.  He  himself  saw  no  in- 
consistency in  the  union  of  the  two  professions  in  his 
own  person.  Believing  himself  divinely  commissioned 
to  effect  the  restoration  and  extension  of  the  temporal 
dominion  of  the  Church,  he  heroically  devoted  himself 
to  its  achievement,  and  succeeded.  And  if  there  is 
something  shocking  to  modern  ideas  in  the  spectacle  of 
a  Christian  priest,  of  threescore  years  and  ten,  armed 
with  cuirass  and  helmet,  leading  his  soldiers  in  person 
to  an  assault ,  sharing  with  them  the  hardships  and 
dangers  of  a  campaign,  and  dragging  reluctant  cardi- 
nals to  his  quarters,  directly  exposed  to  the  fire  of  the 
enemy,  we  can  at  least  admire  the  patriotism  which 
was  the  source  alike  of  his  intrepidity  and  ambition, 
and  should  remember  that  he  lived  in  an  age  when 
warlike  skill  and  personal  courage  were  considered  as 
essential  for  a  bishop,  as  we  deem  them  to  be  for  a 
commander  of  armies ;  when  a  Pope  was  held  to  be  no 
more  consistently  engaged  in  offering  Mass,  than  in 
leading  an  army  against  the  enemies  of  the  faith, — that 
is,  of  the  Roman  Church.  To  free  his  country  from  a 
foreign  yoke  was  the  dream  of  this  valiant  Pontiffs 
life,  and  in  this  he  occupies  a  unique  position  in  the 
long  line  of  the  occupants  of  St.  Peter's  chair.  His 
indignation  was  stirred  by  the  subversion  of  the  Repub- 
lican constitutions  of  Genoa  and  Tuscany.  A  cardinal 
having,  on  one  occasion,  remarked  to  him  that  the 
kingdom  of  Naples  was  always  under  the  dominion 
of  strangers,  the  irate  Pontiff,  striking  his  staff  upon 
the   ground,   passionately   exclaimed    that,    if  heaven 


VI.]  OF   THE  PAPACY,  IO3 

spared  his  life,  he  would  soon  free  Naples  from  this 
reproach 1. 

Always  victorious  in  war,  Julius  used  his  success 
with  moderation.  Devoid  of  the  nepotism  which 
characterized  the  Pontiffs  of  his  age,  he  remained  con- 
stant to  one  idea,  and  fought  to  aggrandize,  not  him- 
self, but  the  Church ;  conferring  the  blessings  of  good 
government  upon  the  peoples  whom  he  subjected  to 
her  rule.  The  continual  changes  in  his  alliances,  with 
which  he  has  been  reproached,  testify  to  his  absorbing 
patriotism.  He  abandoned  the  alliance  of  France,  of 
Venice,  and  of  Spain,  so  soon  as  he  thought  that  these 
powers  offered  any  impediment  to  the  success  of  his 
Italian  projects2.  His  proud  and  intolerant  spirit 
could  endure  even  humiliation,  in  the  cause  of  Italy. 
In  the  hope  of  detaching  the  Emperor  Maximilian 
from  his  alliance  with  Louis  XII,  he  submitted  to  the 
coarse  insolence  of  the  Bishop  of  Gurk,  the  Imperial 
envoy  commissioned  to  open  the  abortive  congress  at 
Mantua,  which  was  designed  to  secure  the  Italian 
conquests  of  the  Emperor ;  a  result,  in  the  estimate 
of  Julius,  less  injurious  to  the  Papacy  than  the  alliance 
of  Germany  and  France.  Although  it  was  evident  at 
the  commencement  of  the  negotiations  that  the  dif- 
ferences between  the  Emperor  and  the  Venetians  on 
the  one  hand,  and  those  of  the  Papacy  with  France  and 
with  the  Duke  of  Ferrara  on  the  other,  were,  at  this 
stage,  incapable  of  a  peaceable  solution,  Julius  was  so 
bent  upon  effecting  the  humiliation  of  the  French  king, 
that  he  patiently  endured  the  effrontery  of  the  haughty 

1  '  Sismondi,'  vol.  ix. 

2  Van  Praet's '  Essays  on  the  Political  History  of  the  Fifteenth, 
Sixteenth,  and  Seventeenth  Centuries.' 


104  THE   TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

prelate,  whose  hatred  of  the  Venetians  inspired  him 
with  a  determined  antagonism  to  the  Pontiff.  The 
bait  of  a  cardinal's  hat  was  powerless  to  curb  the  in- 
solence, or  to  sway  the  obstinacy,  of  the  bishop.  The 
projected  congress  failed,  and  hostilities  were  resumed. 
The  alliance  between  Maximilian  and  Louis  XII  was 
cemented,  and  the  Emperor  dreamt  of  nothing  less 
than  restoring  to  himself  and  his  successors  all  the 
prerogatives  exercised  by  Charlemagne. 

To  the  Bolognese,  whose  city,  with  the  wide  extent 
of  territory  over  which  its  dominion  extended,  was  one 
of  the  earliest  conquests  of  Julius  II,  the  Pontiff 
granted  a  constitution  which  secured  to  them,  in  har- 
mony with  submission  to  the  Papal  See,  no  inconsider- 
able degree  of  real  independence.  This  they  continued 
to  enjoy  down  to  the  period  of  the  French  Revolution ; 
though  Bologna  ceased  henceforward  to  be  reckoned 
amongst  the  sovereign  states  of  Italy.  The  inconstant 
and  ungrateful  Bolognese  were  little  mindful  of  these 
benefits.  No  sooner  had  Julius  withdrawn  from  the 
city,  after  the  collapse  in  the  negotiations  for  the 
Congress  of  Mantua,  than  the  citizens,  with  the  pea- 
sants from  the  mountains,  joined  the  French  in  an 
attack  upon  the  Papal  army,  which  they  completely 
routed ;  whilst  a  colossal  statue  of  the  Pope — one  of  the 
finest  works  of  Michael  Angelo — was  pulled  down  and 
destroyed  with  every  mark  of  contempt l. 

In  the  last  year  of  the  Pontificate  of  Julius  II,  Louis 
XII  of  France,  making  common  cause  with  the  Em- 
peror Maximilian  I,  summoned  a  General  Council  at 
Pisa,  with  the  view  of  imposing  a  check  upon  the 
growing  power  of  the  Pontiff,  and  the  inflated  dignity 
1  Dyer's  '  History  of  Europe.' 


VI.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  105 

and  influence  with  which  he  was  surrounding  the  Papal 
See.  Their  efforts  resulted  in  total  failure ;  no  more 
than  half  a  dozen  cardinals,  two  archbishops,  and  a  few 
abbots  comprising  the  assembly,  which  Louis  himself 
characterized  as  a  comedy.  The  illness  of  the  Pope,  at 
this  time,  inspired  the  erratic  Emperor  with  the  sin- 
gular idea  of  becoming  himself  a  candidate  for  the 
tiara.  He  assumed  the  Imperial  title  of  Pontifex 
Maximus,  and,  by  pawning  the  Imperial  jewels,  raised 
the  sum  of  300,000  ducats  for  distribution  amongst  the 
cardinals  at  the  anticipated  conclave.  It  is  curious  to 
observe  how  the  princes  of  this  period  seemed  to  have 
exchanged  parts:  c Maximilian  wished  to  be  a  Pope 
and  saint,  and  Louis  XII  was  holding  a  Council  •  while 
the  Pope  himself,  aping  the  name  and  deeds  of  the 
greatest  of  the  Caesars,  and  covering  his  white  hairs 
with  a  helmet,  led  a  body  of  old  priests  under  the 
cannon's  mouth  V 

The  Pope  recovered,  and  the  only  important  result 
of  the  Council  of  Pisa  was  the  alliance,  called  the  Holy 
League,  concluded  by  the  Pope,  the  King  of  Spain,  and 
the  Republic  of  Venice ;  with  whom  were  afterwards 
associated  the  Emperor,  and  Henry  VII  of  England. 
Its  professed  object  was  the  protection  of  the  Church 
from  the  sacrilegious  attacks  threatened  by  the  Council 
of  Pisa.  The  accession  to  the  Holy  League  of  the 
Emperor  Maximilian  I,  after  his  defection  from  the 
French  alliance,  proved  that  the  suspicions  with  which 
Louis  XII  had  regarded  its  formation  were  well  founded. 

Julius  II,  apparently  anticipating  that  the  Council 
would  command  a  larger  measure  of  support  from  the 
French  clergy,  resolved  to  parry  this  blow  at  the  Papal 
1  Dyer's  '  Modern  Europe.' 


I06  THE    TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

supremacy,  by  convening  the  rival  Council  of  the 
Lateran;  which,  having  the  sanction  of  Papal  autho- 
rity, was  of  course  regarded  by  the  orthodox  as  the  only 
genuine  one.  Before  his  death  the  Pontiff  had  the 
satisfaction  of  receiving  not  only  the  support  of  all  the 
temporal  powers,  but  that  also  of  the  Emperor  himself, 
who  abandoned  the  Council  of  his  own  creation. 

Louis  XII  was  already  the  victim  of  remorse  for 
having  taken  up  arms  against  the  head  of  the  Church, 
and  was  prepared  to  humiliate  himself  for  the  sake  of 
peace.  His  submission  only  had  the  effect  of  firing 
the  ambition  of  the  Pontiff,  who  would  be  satisfied 
with  nothing  less  than  the  expulsion  of  the  French 
from  Italy,  and  the  ruin  of  the  Duke  of  Ferrara. 

Any  notice  of  this  remarkable  Pope,  which  pretends 
to  impartiality,  would  be  incomplete  and  unveracious 
which  failed  to  chronicle,  with  merited  censure,  the 
intriguing  part  which  he  played  in  the  affair  of  the 
League  of  Cambray,  and  his  subsequent  treachery  to 
Alfonso,  its  principal  concocter.  Here  his  characteristic 
moderation  entirely  forsook  him-  his  patriotism  was 
obscured  in  craft  and  lust  of  power.  The  principal 
object  of  the  League  was  the  dismemberment  of  the 
Republic  of  Venice.  Romagna,  including  the  im- 
portant cities  of  Ravenna,  Faenzi,  and  Rimini,  were 
the  share  of  the  spoil  apportioned  to  the  Pontiff.  It 
would  occupy  too  much  space  to  enter  into  the  history 
of  the  struggle  with  the  proud  and  valiant  Republic. 
Anxious  to  avoid  the  calamity  of  war,  the  Venetians 
offered  to  surrender  to  Julius  some  portions  of  their 
possessions  in  Romagna.  But  the  ambitious  Pontiff 
was  inflexible-  and,  single-handed,  the  Venetians 
entered  into  the  conflict  with  the  formidable  alliance. 


VI.]  OF    THE  PAPACY.  I07 

Misfortunes  at  home,  and  the  tremendous  power 
leagued  for  their  destruction,  soon  brought  them  to 
the  verge  of  ruin,  and  so  overwhelmed  them  with 
dismay,  that  they  were  willing  to  surrender  all  those 
possessions  which  were  coveted  by  the  allies,  if  only 
the  unmolested  retention  of  Venice  and  the  Lagunes 
were  guaranteed  to  them  1.  On  two  occasions  the 
Senate  offered  to  give  up  the  whole  of  Romagna  to  the 
Pope  j  whilst  to  Spain,  and  to  the  Emperor,  they  made 
overtures  involving  similar  sacrifice. 

The  overbearing  pride  and  insatiable  ambition  of 
the  Pontiff  proved  the  salvation  of  the  Republic.  As 
the  war  progressed,  however,  Julius  gradually  succeeded 
in  recovering  and  establishing  his  rule  in  every  city  of 
the  Romagna. 

The  jealousy  of  the  Pope  had  been  excited  by  the 
intimacy  which  existed  between  Alfonso,  Duke  of 
Ferrara,  and  the  French  king.  A  coolness  ensued, 
which  rapidly  developed  into  animosity.  Julius  con- 
sidered himself  entitled  to  the  gratitude  of  Alfonso, 
the  only  feudatory  of  the  Church  whom  he  had  spared ; 
and,  unable  to  find  a  just  cause  of  quarrel  in  his  sub- 
serviency to  Louis  XII,  he  was  at  no  loss  to  create  one 
on  another  ground.  He  accordingly  claimed,  as  the 
property  of  the  Holy  See,  those  castles  in  Romagna 
which  Lucrezia  Borgia  had  brought  to  Alfonso  as  her 
dowry2.  Alfonso  resisted  these  and  other  equally  un- 
just demands.  Louis  XII  in  vain  attempted  to  arrange 
an  accommodation  between  his  ally  and  the  haughty 

1  An  interesting  narrative  of  this  struggle  is  given  by  Mr. 
Gilbert  in  his  recently  published  and  most  attractive  biography 
of  Lucrezia  Borgia. 

2  Dyer's  '  Modern  Europe.' 


108  THE    TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

Pontiff,  who  responded  to  these  overtures  by  dismiss- 
ing the  ambassadors  of  the  French  king,  as  well  as 
those  of  the  duke,  calling  upon  the  latter  to  renounce 
his  adherence  to  France. 

When  the  French  had  been  driven  from  Italy,  and 
the  League  practically  dissolved,  the  position  of  Alfonso 
became  critical  in  the  extreme.  He  well  knew  the 
fiery  and  vindictive  temper  of  the  Pontiff,  and  wisely 
resolved  upon  opening  negotiations,  with  a  view  to  a 
reconciliation.  It  was  not  his  first  attempt.  On  a 
former  occasion  he  had  employed  the  celebrated  poet, 
Ludovico  Ariosto,  as  envoy  for  this  purpose.  His 
reception  by  his  Holiness  is  thus  narrated  by  Mr. 
Gilbert: — cOn  his  arrival  at  Ostia,  where  the  Pope 
was  then  residing,  he  requested  an  audience  with  the 
Pontiff.  His  request  was  complied  with,  and  Ariosto 
was  ushered  into  the  presence  of  his  Holiness.  He 
had  scarcely  been  introduced  to  him  when  the  Pope 
sternly  told  him  immediately  to  leave  his  presence,  or 
he  would  order  him  to  be  thrown  out  of  the  window  ].5 
On  this  occasion  he  selected  as  his  ambassador,  Fabrizio 
Colonna,  an  able  general  in  the  service  of  the  Pope, 
who,  at  the  siege  of  Ravenna,  had  fallen  into  Alfonso's 
hands  as  a  prisoner  of  war.  The  respect  and  friendship 
which  he  had  received  at  the  hands  of  his  victor  had 
converted  the  quondam  foe  into  a  staunch  admirer  and 
friend.  Insisting  as  the  condition  upon  which  his  good 
offices  should  be  given,  that  Alfonso  should  recognize 
the  supremacy  of  the  Pope,  and  consent  to  leave  the 
cities  of  Romagna  in  his  undisputed  possession,  Fa- 
brizio proceeded  to  Rome.     His  mission  appeared  to 

2  '  Lucrezia  Borgia,'  by  William  Gilbert.  Two  vols.   Hurst  and 
Blackett. 


VI.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  IO9 

be  entirely  successful,  the  Pontiff  agreeing  to  a  recon- 
ciliation upon  the  easy  condition  of  Alfonso  appearing 
at  the  Roman  court,  publicly  expressing  his  regret  for 
his  offences,  and  promising  obedience  to  the  Church 
for  the  future.  Alfonso  accordingly  appeared  at  Rome, 
threw  himself  at  the  feet  of  his  Holiness,  and  ex- 
pressed his  contrition.  Julius  appeared  moved  by  his 
submission,  and  expressed  the  satisfaction  it  afforded 
him.  He  then  informed  Alfonso  that  he  had  en- 
trusted to  a  committee  of  six  cardinals  the  duty  of 
arranging  the  terms  of  a  peace,  and  he  had  no  doubt 
they  could  be  easily  and  satisfactorily  adjusted. 

The  Pontiff  had  presumed  too  far  upon  the  peni- 
tence of  his  contrite  foe.  When  the  terms  upon  which 
the  Holy  Father  was  willing  to  extend  his  friendship 
to  the  humble  suppliant  were  declared,  they  were  in- 
stantly and  indignantly  repudiated.  They  may  be 
briefly  stated;  and  the  arrogance  which  they  display, 
combined  with  the  perfidy  which  Julius  was  even  then 
practising  towards  the  man  whom  he  received  as 
an  ally,  constitute  the  darkest  passage  in  his  life. 
The  city  of  Ferrara,  with  all  the  territory  of  the 
dukedom,  were  to  be  surrendered  to  the  Church.  Al- 
fonso and  his  family  were  to  retire  into  private  life, 
pledging  themselves  never  to  return  to  Ferrara,  which 
thenceforward  was  to  be  considered  a  Papal  province ! 

Alfonso,  after  he  had  rejected  these  terms,  without 
any  pretence  of  deliberation,  immediately  commenced 
preparations  for  his  return  to  Ferrara.  Various  pleas 
were  urged  for  his  not  quitting  Rome  in  such  im- 
petuous haste;  and  when  the  hour  for  his  departure 
arrived,  he  found  himself  a  prisoner, — his  house  sur- 
rounded with  Papal  guards.      Nor  was  this  all.     On 

(  UNIVERSITY  i 


IIO        THE   TEMPORAL   POWER    OF   THE  PAPACY. 

the  day  of  his  arrival  in  Rome,  and  before  the  ne- 
gotiations with  the  Pope  had  commenced,  a  Ponti- 
fical army  had  entered  his  own  territory,  and  was 
now  rapidly  approaching  Ferrara,  where  the  Duchess, 
better  known  as  Lucrezia  Borgia,  was  acting  as  Regent, 
in  Alfonso's  absence. 

We  cannot  further  follow  the  eventful  history  of 
Alfonso.  The  romantic  story  of  his  escape  and  return 
to  Ferrara,  by  the  aid  of  Fabrizio  Colonna,  is  well 
told  by  Mr.  Gilbert  in  his  interesting  work,  to  which 
reference  has  been  already  made.  The  episode  claims 
allusion  in  this  place  in  illustration  of  the  character 
of  this  great  Pontiff.  It  is  an  instance,  of  which 
history  affords  so  many — the  moral  of  which  lies 
upon  the  surface — of  the  union,  in  the  same  character, 
of  exalted  genius,  benevolence,  and  burning  patriotism, 
with  relentless  enmity,  meanness,  and  perfidy.  CA 
double-minded  man  is  unstable  in  all  his  ways/ 

It  has  been  said  of  Julius  II,  that  he  was  a  Pontiff 
worthy  of  imperishable  glory,  had  he  worn  any  other 
crown  than  the  tiara1.  The  proviso,  we  think,  was 
unnecessary  •  for  however  his  great  idea  of  making  the 
Papacy  the  instrument  of  Italian  liberation2  may  be 
considered  incompatible  with  the  proper  vocation  of 
the  Holy  See,  the  Pontiff  who  possessed,  in  that  age, 
the  daring  to  conceive  so  lofty  an  enterprize,  and 
made  such  stupendous  efforts  for  its  realization,  estab- 
lished an  unimpeachable  claim  to  the  gratitude  and 
admiration  of  his  countrymen  throughout  all  time. 

1  Guicciardini.  2  Dyer's  '  Modern  Europe.' 


CHAPTER    VII. 

Leo  X  succeeded  to  the  Pontificate  a.d.  1513.  His 
father,  Lorenzo  the  Magnificent,  by  creed  a  Deist,  had 
chosen  the  Church  as  a  vocation  for  his  son,  with  a 
view  to  the  rich  emoluments  which  it  was  in  his  power 
to  secure  to  him.  It  is  not  improbable  that  the  horizon 
of  Lorenzo's  paternal  schemings  was  illumined  by  the 
hope  of  crowning  his  son's  career  by  the  acquisition 
of  the  tiara. 

Through  his  father's  influence  with  the  French  court 
and  the  reigning  Popes,  Leo,  before  the  completion 
of  his  seventeenth  year,  enjoyed  the  revenues  of  six 
rectories,  fifteen  abbacies,  one  priory,  and  one  arch- 
bishopric. He  had  not  yet  attained  his  thirty-eighth 
year  when  the  same  influence  secured  for  him  the 
coveted  tiara. 

Leo  X  shared  the  ambition,  but  was  destitute  of 
the  patriotism,  generosity,  and  personal  courage,  which 
distinguished  his  predecessors.  Foiled  in  his  endea- 
vours to  dissuade  Louis  XII  (now  in  alliance  with  the 
Venetians,  whom  the  arrogance  of  Maximilian  had 
alienated  from  the  Holy  League)  from  his  projected 
enterprize  for  the  recovery  of  Milan,  he  entered  into 
alliance  with  the  Emperor,  and  formed  the  bold  design 
of  again  driving  the  French  out  of  Italy  and  of  bringing 
the  whole  Peninsula  under  the  authority  of  the  Roman 
See.    Seven  years  later,  when,  owing  more  to  the  hatred 


112  THE    TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

which  the  Milanese  bore  to  the  haughty  and  imperious 
French  general,  than  to  the  valour  of  the  Papal  army, 
the  French  were  compelled  to  evacuate  Milan,  Leo 
died  from  intoxication  of  joy  at  the  French  humiliation. 
Not,  however,  until  he  had  witnessed  the  accomplish- 
ment of  his  darling  project, — the  recovery  to  the 
Church  of  Parma  and  Placentia  which  had  been  seized 
by  Francis  I  on  his  conquest  of  Milan. 

Extravagant  eulogy  has  been  expended  upon  this 
Pontiff  as  the  munificent  patron  of  the  fine  arts.  But 
this  patronage  was  far  more  that  of  the  Pontiff  than 
of  the  man.  Rome  has  always  taken  care  to  turn  to 
account  her  patronage  of  the  fine  arts  to  the  inculcation 
of  her  doctrine  and  the  increase  of  her  power.  The 
tones  of  Pius  IX  still  linger  on  our  ears  when,  at  the 
opening  of  the  Roman  Exhibition,  he  spoke  of  religion 
as  the  inspirer  of  great  works  of  art.  Singling  out 
three  of  the  great  art  treasures  of  Rome,  the  Last 
Communion  of  St.  Jerome,  by  Domenechino,  the  Moses 
of  Michael  Angelo,  and  St.  Peter's,  he  said,  cIt  was 
religion  which  guided  the  pencil  to  which  we  owe  the 
portraiture  of  the  Great  Doctor,  it  was  religion  which 
governed  the  chisel  which  put  something  divine  into 
the  head  of  the  great  Lawgiver  of  the  people  of  God, 
and  religion  herself  seems  to  have  held  the  compass 
which  traced  the  lines  of  the  most  magnificent  temple 
in  the  world.5  True ;  but  so  also  says  the  Romish 
priest  to  the  ignorant  devotee  to  whom  he  points  out 
the  c  divine'  frescoes  of,  let  us  say,  the  Campo  Santo, 
Pisa.  cHere  we  have  represented  the  most  ghastly 
cartoons  of  Death,  Judgment,  Purgatory,  and  Hell ;  we 
behold  angels  and  devils  fighting  for  the  souls  of  the 
departed,  snakes  devouring,  fiends  scorching,  red-hot 


VII.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  II3 

hooks  tearing  their  flesh.  Those  on  earth  can,  so 
say  the  priests,  rescue  their  unfortunate  relatives  from 
this  melancholy  position  by  giving  donations  to  their 
spiritual  fathers,  who  will  then  pray  for  their  escape. 
We  read  in  the  New  Testament  that  the  rich  enter 
heaven  with  difficulty ;  but  it  is  they,  according  to  the 
Church  of  Rome,  who  enter  easily,  whilst  the  poor  are 
virtually  excluded1.' 

Though  not  unmindful  of  his  Pontifical  dignity  and 
duties,  and  conspicuous  for  his  munificence  and  liberal 
patronage  of  the  fine  arts,  the  political  ambition  of 
Leo  X  habitually  subordinated  these  to  his  regal  as- 
sumptions. Rome,  under  his  government,  was  tranquil 
and  prosperous.  The  impartial  administration  of  justice 
promoted  the  happiness  and  security  of  the  people,  who, 
fully  appreciating  these  blessings,  decreed  a  perpetua- 
tion of  their  remembrance  by  erecting  a  statue  to  the 
Pontiff.  But  whilst  it  was  the  glory  of  Leo  X  thus  to 
see  the  Imperial  city  advancing,  under  his  sway,  in 
dignity,  in  opulence,  and  in  the  culture  of  the  arts, 
he  failed  to  perceive  that  the  foundations  of  the  Papacy 
had  been  so  severely  shaken  by  the  spirit  of  enquiry, 
aroused  by  the  teachings  of  Wy  cliff  e,  Huss,  and  Luther, 
that,  however  great  the  charm  of  the  Papal  pretensions, 
as  asserted  by  Julius  II,  respect  for  the  Papacy  in  the 
minds  of  the  people  was  a  thing  of  the  past. 

In  the  hope  of  securing  the  homage  of  the  Emperor, 
prescribed  by  long  -  established  custom,  Leo,  though 
greatly  chagrined  at  the  election  of  Charles  V,  hastened 
to  recognize  an  act  which  he  had  been  powerless  to 
avert.      But  Charles  was   already  determined    not  to 

1  'The  Rule  of  the  Monk,'  by  Garibaldi. 
I 


114  THE   TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

gratify  the  Pontiff's  pretensions,  and  the  practice  was 
never  afterwards  followed. 

The  Anti-Papal  stir  which  began  to  agitate  Europe 
by  reason  of  the  corruptions  of  Christianity,  and  the 
pretensions  of  Papal  Rome  to  make  men  purchase 
heaven  with  gold  instead  of  virtue ;  the  bold  defiance 
of  Luther  at  Wittemberg,  when  he  pronounced  that 
c Enough'  which  instantly  resounded  throughout  Europe; 
the  rapid  spread  of  the  reformed  doctrine  in  Switzer- 
land,— all  failed  to  convince  Leo  X  of  the  danger 
which  threatened  the  Papacy.  His  restless  intriguing 
spirit  clutched  at  two  Italian  towns,  revelled  in  the 
abrogation  of  the  liberties  of  the  Gallican  Church1 — 
the  attempt  to  recover  which  forms  an  amusing  episode 
in  the  relations  of  Napoleon  with  the  Papacy — and 
defied  the  spirit  of  revolt,  which  he  neither  understood 
nor  feared.  CA11  the  good  that  has  ever  been  said  of 
Leo  X,'  says  Mr.  Blunt,  c  amounts  to  this,  that  he  was 
a  munificent  patron  of  the  arts,  though  his  patronage 
was  neither  more  nor  less  than  the  encouragement  of 
Pagan  instead  of  Christian  art.  He  was  as  secular  in 
his  tastes  as  any  Emperor  of  Rome,  and  his  episcopal 
office  was  treated  by  him  merely  as  one  of  the  accidents 
of  his  position2/ 

1  These  liberties,  which  honourably  distinguish  the  Gallican 
Church  from  other  members  of  the  Roman  Communion,  were 
based  upon  two  maxims, — one  that  the  Pope  possessed  no  tem- 
poral authority,  the  other  that  his  spiritual  jurisdiction  could 
only  be  exercised  in  conformity  with  such  parts  of  the  Canon 
Law  as  were  received  by  the  kingdom  of  France.  It  followed 
that  Papal  bulls  were  without  validity  in  France,  unless  endorsed 
by  the  approbation  of  the  King.  See  Hallam's  '  Middle  Ages,'  vol.  ii. 

2  *  The  Reformation  of  the  Church  of  England,'  by  the  Rev. 
J.  J.  Blunt. 


VII.]  OF    THE   PAPACY.  1 1  5 

During  the  two  succeeding  centuries,  the  authority 
of  the  Popes  gradually  consolidated  itself.  One  by  one 
the  cities  and  territories  which  Julius  II  had  suffered 
to  retain  their  independent  government  were  brought 
into  more  complete  subjection  to  the  Holy  See ;  some 
by  intrigue;  some  by  voluntary  compact,  induced  by 
the  prospect  of  good  government;  and  others,  again, 
by  the  extinction  of  the  legitimate  line  of  their  ducal 
sovereigns,  when  the  Pope  claimed  the  reversion  in  his 
right  as  feudal  lord.  This  claim  was  not  always  affirmed 
in  the  interests  of  the  Church,  much  less  in  that  of  the 
people,  whose  allegiance  to  the  rulers  imposed  upon 
them  was  given  or  withdrawn  without  so  much  as 
a  thought  of  their  being  consulted. 

The  chief  hindrance  to  the  consolidation  of  the 
Papal  power  in  these  centuries,  was  that  plague  which 
had  characterized  the  Popedom  for  ages — the  nepotism 
of  the  Popes  themselves,  who  made  the  Papacy  sub- 
servient to  the  elevation  of  their  kindred.  Mingling 
in  the  dark  conspiracies  of  the  most  corrupt  age,  they 
acquired  new  territories  only  to  bestow  them  upon 
their  own  kinsmen  at  the  expense  of  the  Papal  States. 
Ranke  informs  us  that,  in  the  fifteenth  century,  it  was 
held  to  be  a  matter  of  conscience  that  a  Pope  should 
provide  for  his  own  family  and  promote  their  interests. 
In  illustration  of  this  he  quotes  a  letter  addressed  by 
Lorenzo  de  Medici  to  Innocent  VIII,  in  which,  after 
some  laudatory  observations  upon  c  the  retiring  deli- 
cacy' evinced  by  his  Holiness,  he  says,  c  Zeal  and  duty 
lay  it  on  my  conscience  to  remind  you  that  no  man 
is  immortal.  Be  the  Pontiff  as  important  as  he  may 
in  his  own  person,  he  cannot  make  his  dignity  nor 
his  importance   hereditary;   he  cannot   be  said  abso- 

1  2 


T  I  6  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

lutely  to  possess  anything  but  the  honours  and  emolu- 
ments he  has  secured  to  his  kindred/  It  should, 
indeed,  be  borne  in  mind,  that  Lorenzo  had  given 
his  own  daughter  in  marriage  to  an  illegitimate  son 
of  the  Pope.  But  his  letter,  so  far  from  being  con- 
sidered scandalous,  was  declared  by  the  potentates  of. 
Italy  to  be  replete  with  sound  sense  and  honourable 
feeling1. 

The  contest  for  the  Empire  of  Germany  between 
Charles  V  and  Francis  I  had  been  terminated  by  the 
unanimous  election  of  the  former.  The  prostration 
and  division  of  Italy  had,  for  centuries  past,  been  re- 
garded by  the  Roman  Pontiffs  (with  the  notable  ex- 
ception of  Julius  II)  as  a  first  necessity  for  the  proper 
exercise  of  Papal  domination.  Nothing  could  be  more 
unfavourable  to  the  development  of  any  ideas  of 
national  independence  than  the  nature  of  the  petty 
governments,  whether  republican  or  otherwise,  into 
which  Italy  was  divided.  Long  deprivation  of  the 
habits  of  freedom  had  extinguished  its  very  spirit, 
which  survived  only  in  the  minds  of  a  few.  After 
the  vicissitudes  which  marked  that  period  of  the  Pon- 
tificate of  Clement  VII,  antecedently  to  his  recon- 
ciliation with  the  Emperor  (effected  by  the  treaty  of 
Barcelona,  June  29,  a.d.  1529),  this  traditional  policy 
of  the  Roman  Pontiffs  was  adopted  and  unscrupulously 
pursued  by  this  Pope;  and  never  did  Pontiff  enjoy 
more  secure  and  undisputed  possession  of  his  temporal 
power.  His  rule  was  detested,  and  the  process  by 
which  its  stability  had  been  secured  begat  the  abiding 
hatred  of  his  subjects. 

But  Clement  was  no  longer  the  helpless  tool  of  in- 

1  Gilbert's  '  Life  of  Lucrezia  Borgia.' 


VII.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  117 

constant  allies,  nor  even  of  the  unscrupulous  and  jealous 
Imperial  government  which,  antecedently  to  the  Spanish 
union,  had  been  so  uncompromisingly  hostile  to  that 
aggrandizement  of  the  temporal  power,  which  had 
become  the  absorbing  ambition  of  the  occupants  of 
the  Papal  throne.  The  Papal  See  had,  now,  become 
wholly  independent  of  Imperial  control.  This  was 
not  owing  to  any  vitality  in  the  power  or  authority 
of  the  Pontiff,  but  to  the  jealousy  with  which  the 
great  European  powers  regarded  the  Italian  policy  of 
the  Emperor,  and  to  the  decline  of  the  Imperial 
authority  which,  previous  to  the  election  of  Charles  V, 
was  reduced  within  the  narrowest  limits.  The  au- 
thority of  the  Papacy,  though  still  sufficient  to  neutral- 
ize the  reality  of  Imperial  control,  was  equally  di- 
minished. The  progress  of  the  Reformation  had  shaken 
its  influence  throughout  Europe,  and  its  dependence 
upon  the  support  of  the  secular  governments  was  openly 
avowed. 

Italy,  now  divided  into  small  states,  incapable  of 
resisting  the  hostility  of  any  great  power,  had  lost 
even  that  vestige  of  liberty  which  she  had  enjoyed 
for  two  hundred  years,  and  was  prostrate  beneath  the 
deadly  yoke  of  Spain.  Her  humiliation  was  the  glory 
of  the  priest  who  claimed  to  represent  upon  earth, 
Him,  whose  mission  it  was  cto  proclaim  liberty  to 
the  captives  and  the  opening  of  the  prison  to  them 
that  are  bound !'  But  under  the  stillness  of  this  pros- 
tration the  germs  of  a  new  life  were  forming.  Francis  I 
was  espousing  the  cause  of  the  Protestants  of  Ger- 
many, whilst  Henry  VIII  had  pronounced  the  definitive 
separation  of  England  from  the  supremacy  of  Rome. 
Charles  V,  alive  to  the  dangers  of  a  union  of  the  Pro- 


1 1  8  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

testants  with  the  King  of  France,  vainly  strove  to 
effect  a  compromise  which,  under  a  specious  show  of 
concession,  should  be  more  fatal  to  the  spread  of  the 
Reformation  than  the  uncompromising  resistance  which, 
experience  showed,  only  aggravated  and  strengthened 
the  movement1.  His  projects  failed,  and  the  Emperor 
abandoned  the  hope  of  living  at  peace  with  the  Re- 
formers. The  ambition  of  Clement  VII  to  supplant, 
in  Italy,  the  power  to  which  he  owed  entirely  his  own 
elevation,  induced  him  to  enter  into  the  project  of  a 
holy  alliance  whose  avowed  object  it  was  to  neutralize 
the  power  of  the  Emperor.  The  latter  was  indeed 
the  sworn  foe  of  the  Reformers  in  Germany,  whilst 
Francis  had  espoused  their  cause;  but  his  humiliating 
defeat  at  Pavia,  and  the  jealousy  which  was  felt 
throughout  Europe  at  his  pretensions  to  interfere  in 
the  religious  disputes  of  Germany,  had  corrected  such 
heretical  proclivities.  A  greater  danger  threatened  the 
Papacy  in  the  inordinate  ambition  and  pretensions  of 
the  Emperor.  It  was  important  that  the  Holy  League 
should  obtain  a  decisive  victory  over  the  Imperialists. 
Once  more  the  sovereign  Pontiff  vindicated  his  true 
apostolical  descent  in  a  ready  appeal  to  the  sword9; 
little  anticipating  that  he  himself  would  so  soon  ex- 
perience the  fulfilment  of  the  judgment  threatened  to 

1  Van  Praet's  '  Essays  on  the  Political  History  of  the  Fifteenth, 
Sixteenth,  and  Seventeenth  Centuries.' 

2  '  And  they  said,  Lord,  behold,  here  are  two  swords.  And  he 
said  unto  them,  It  is  enough.' — Luke  xxii.  38. 

'  One  of  them  which  were  with  Jesus  stretched  out  his  hand 
and  drew  his  sword,  and  struck  a  servant  of  the  high  priest's,  and 
smote  off  his  ear.  Then  said  Jesus  unto  him,  Put  up  thy  sword 
into  his  place  :  for  all  they  that  take  the  sword  shall  perish  with 
the  sword.' — Matt.  xxvi.  51,  52. 


VII.]  OF   THE  PAPACr.  119 

the  rashness  of  the  Apostle.  France  did  not  gain  her 
anticipated  victory.  On  the  contrary,  Rome  was  taken 
and  sacked  by  the  Imperial  troops,  and  the  Pontiff 
himself  made  prisoner. 

Charles  V  was  too  astute  a  ruler  to  incur  the  risk  of 
favouring  the  religious  movement  in  Germany  by  pro- 
longing a  struggle  with  the  Holy  See,  and  he  set  the 
Pope  at  liberty  after  a  brief  confinement.  Both  parties 
were. now  anxious  for  peace,  and  the  treaty  of  Cambray1 
at  length  delivered  Italy  from  the  devastation  in  which 
the  long  Franco-Spanish  struggle  for  ascendency  had 
plunged  her ;  but  without  effecting  any  material  altera- 
tion in  the  territorial  arrangements. 

In  1530,  Charles  received  the  Imperial  crown  at  the 
hands  of  the  same  Pontiff,  who,  five  years  earlier,  had 
attempted  to  form  another  Holy  League  to  resist  his 
ascendency.  And  now  the  sovereign  Priest  exulted  at 
once  in  the  new  security  in  which  he  held  his  temporal 
power,  and  in  the  fatal  blow  inflicted  upon  Italian 
freedom.  The  Emperor  still  styled  himself  King  of 
the  Romans ;  but  the  reality  was  gone  as  completely  as 
at  the  accession  of  the  Tudor  family,  the  claims  of  our 
own  sovereigns  to  the  title  of  Kings  of  France  had 
lapsed.  The  Pope  was  the  independent  sovereign  of 
the  Roman  States,  and  Charles  V  was  the  last  of  the 
German  Emperors  who  went  through  the  form  of  coro- 
nation either  at  Milan  or  at  Rome. 

The  nepotism  of  Paul  III  (a.d.  1534-50)  occasioned  a 
renewal  of  the  miseries  which  the  French  and  Spanish 
contests  had  so  long  inflicted  upon  Italy.  Paul  had 
obtained  the  sanction  of  the  Emperor  to  the  alienation 

1  Galled  '  Paix  des  Dames'  from  its  being  signed  by  Louisa  of 
Savoy,  and  Margaret  of  Austria,  aunt  of  Charles  V. 


ISO  THE   TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

of  the  territories  of  Parma  and  Placentia  (which,  as  we 
have  seen,  Leo  X  had  devoted  the  energies  of  his  life 
to  recover  to  the  Church)  in  favour  of  his  natural  son, 
Peter  Luigi  Farnese.  The  succeeding  Pontiff  disputed 
the  claim  of  the  new  Duke  of  Parma,  and  endeavoured 
to  resume  the  grant.  The  young  duke  appealed  to 
France  for  protection.  Before  the  dispute  was  settled 
Charles  V  had  abdicated,  and  the  Pontiff  was  himself 
an  applicant  for  the  alliance  of  France  in  an  attempt 
to  drive  the  Spanish  power  out  of  Italy.  The  dispute 
respecting  Parma  and  Placentia  was  forgotten  -y  but  the 
young  duke  maintained  his  rights.  For  two  centuries, 
and  until  the  family  became  extinct,  their  hereditary 
succession  was  uninterrupted. 

The  Duke  of  Guise  crossed  the  Alps  with  an  army  of 
20,000  men,  and  for  three  years  Italy  was  again  devas- 
tated by  the  occupation  of  two  gigantic  foreign  hosts. 

We  have  only  to  note  as  an  historical  incident, 
having  but  a  remote  bearing  upon  our  narrative,  the 
assembling,  during  this  Pontificate,  of  the  Council  of 
Trent.  It  was  in  December,  a.d.  ]  545,  when  the  Pope, 
who  had  long  withstood  the  desires  of  the  Emperor  for 
the  convocation  of  a  General  Council,  believing  that 
he  had  discovered  indications  of  the  intention  of 
Charles  V  to  exercise  the  ancient  Imperial  right  of 
convocation,  resolved  to  run  no  longer  the  dangers  of 
delay.  c  Then,'  says  Ranke1,  c  the  old  loiterer,  Time, 
did  at  length  bring  the  wished-for  moment.'  With  the 
discussions  of  this  Council,  so  long  desired,  twice  dis- 
solved, extending  over  a  period  of  just  eighteen  years, 
and  so  utterly  subservient  to  the  Papacy,  we  have  no 
concern.  Discordant  opinions  met  and  combated  at 
1  '  History  of  the  Popes/  vol.  i.  p.  161. 


VII.]  OF    THE  PAPACY.  121 

Trent,  but  the  real  diplomatists  of  the  Council  were  in 
Rome  and  at  the  courts  of  the  lay  sovereigns.  The 
PontifF  in  whose  reign  the  Council  closed  (Pius  IV) 
declared  that  the  Papacy  could  no  longer  exist  without 
the  aid  of  temporal  princes.  Let  him  have  the  praise 
of  being  that  Pontiff'  by  whom  cthe  tendency  of  the 
hierarchy  to  oppose  itself  to  the  temporal  sovereigns 
was  deliberately  and  purposely  abandoned1.' 

Paul  IV  (a.d.  1555-59),  asserting  the  now  almost 
obsolete  pretensions  of  the  Roman  See,  had  refused 
to  recognize  the  abdication  of  Charles  V,  declaring,  in 
full  Consistory,  that  he  had  no  right  to  take  such  a  step 
without  the  consent  of  the  Holy  See2.  Philip  II  in 
vain  attempted  to  overcome  the  obstinacy  of  the 
PontifF,  who  refused  to  give  audience  to  the  ambas- 
sador commissioned  to  notify  the  accession  of  Fer- 
dinand to  the  Imperial  throne,  and  to  solicit  his 
coronation  at  the  hands  of  the  Pope.  Ferdinand 
assumed  the  title  of  Roman  Emperor  Elect,  and  was 
recognized  by  all  the  crowned  heads  of  Europe,  except- 
ing only  the  Roman  PontifF.  This  was  the  occasion 
of  the  discontinuance  of  the  practice  of  Imperial  coro- 
nations by  the  Pope,  to  which  reference  has  been 
already  made. 

Paul  IV  was  old  enough  to  remember  the  freedom  of 
Italy.  He  was  in  the  habit  of  comparing  the  Italy 
of  his  youth  to  a  well-tuned  instrument,  of  which 
Naples,  Milan,  the  Papal  States,  and  Venice  were  the 
four  strings3.  Animated  by  a  bitter  hostility  to 
Charles  V,  to  whom  he  ascribed  the  successes  of  the 
Protestants,  he  adopted  the  policy  of  his  predecessors 
with  a  view  to  deliver  Italy  from  foreign  dominion, 

1  Ranke.  2  Dyer's  '  Modern  Europe.'  3  Ibid. 


122  THE    TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

and  supported  the  French  in  an  attack  on  the  kingdom 
of  Naples.  But  the  Duke  of  Guise  had  objects  of  per- 
sonal ambition  in  view,  which  he  contrived  to  conceal 
from  the  Pontiff,  and  to  which  he  was  willing  enough 
to  postpone  even  the  interests  of  France.  As  represent- 
ative of  the  house  of  Anjou,  he  watched  for  the  oppor- 
tunity of  asserting  his  own  claim  to  the  Neapolitan 
throne;  whilst  his  brother,  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine, 
aspired  to  the  tiara.  Paul  IV  was  advanced  in  years, 
and  as  the  probability  of  an  early  vacancy  of  the  Pon- 
tifical throne  appeared  imminent,  the  Guises  designed 
to  facilitate  the  deliberations  of  the  conclave  by  the 
presence  of  an  overpowering  French  army1. 

Success  attended  the  Spanish  arms.  The  Duke  of 
Alva  penetrated  to  the  very  gates  of  Rome,  and  held 
the  Pontiff  in  his  power.  But  Paul  IV  well  knew  how 
to  wield  a  power  more  terrible  to  the  bigoted  super- 
stitious Philip  II  than  1 0,000  men  of  war. 

In  the  bull,  Cum  ex  Apostolatus  officio^  he  boldly  asserted 
his  authority  to  depose  every  monarch,  and  hand  over 
his  country  to  foreign  invasion.  The  following  are  a 
sample  of  the  propositions  which,  cout  of  the  plenitude 
of  his  Apostolic  power/  Paul  IV,  with  the  assent  of  his 
cardinals,  defined  in  this  famous  bull : — 

c  The  Pope,  who,  as  cc  Pontifex  Maximus,"  is  God's 
representative  on  earth,  has  full  authority  and  power 
over  nations  and  kingdoms ;  he  judges  all,  and  can  in 
this  world  be  judged  by  none/ 

c  All  princes  and  monarchs,  as  well  as  bishops,  as  soon 
as  they  fall  into  heresy  and  schism,  'without  the  need  of 
any  legal  formality^  are  irrevocably  deposed,  deprived  for 
ever  of  all  rights  of  government,  and  incur  sentence  of 

1  Dyer's  '  Modern  Europe.' 


VII.]  OF    THE   PAPACY.  I  23 

death.  In  case  of  repentance,  they  are  to  be  imprisoned 
in  a  monastery,  and  to  do  penance  on  bread  and  water 
for  the  remainder  of  their  life.5 

c  None  may  venture  to  give  any  aid  to  an  heretical  or 
schismatical  prince ;  not  even  the  mere  services  of  common 
humanity  ,•  any  monarch  who  does  so,  forfeits  his  do- 
minion and  property,  which  lapse  to  princes  obedient 
to  the  Pope/ 

As  a  preliminary  step  the  irate  Pontiff,  with  a  stroke 
of  his  pen,  ordained  the  suspension  of  Divine  worship 
in  Spain,  an  act  which  bewildered  the  superstitious  and 
irresolute  monarch,  and  arrested  the  march  of  Alva. 
Whilst  Philip  wasted  his  time  in  consulting  the  theolo- 
gians of  Alcala,  Salamanca,  and  Valladolid  upon  the 
legitimacy  of  his  campaign  against  the  head  of  the 
Church,  the  Duke  of  Guise  concentrated  his  forces 
upon  Rome.  His  sudden  recal  to  France  by  Henry  II 
afforded  Philip  the  opportunity  of  opening  negotiations 
with  the  Pope.  Paul  IV  insisted  that  Alva  c  should 
repair  to  Rome  to  ask  pardon  in  his  own  name,  and 
that  of  his  sovereign,  for  having  invaded  the  patrimony 
of  St.  Peter,  and  to  receive  absolution  for  that  crime.' 
The  haughty  Spaniard  was  forced  to  comply.  At  the 
threshold  of  the  Vatican,  Alva  fell  upon  his  knees  and 
kissed,  with  real  or  simulated  veneration,  the  foot  of 
the  bitterest  and  most  inveterate  foe  of  his  sovereign 
and  country1. 

Italy  now  ceased  to  be  the  chief  theatre  of  war. 
Fortuitous  circumstances  had  secured  to  the  Papacy 
advantages  which  her  arms,  even  when  strengthened 
by  the  French  alliance,  were  powerless  to  command. 
In  the  treaty  of  peace  with  Alva  (Sept.  14,  a.d.  1557)  it 

1  Dyer's  'Modern  Europe.' 


124  THE    TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

was  stipulated  that  the  Spanish  troops  should  be  with- 
drawn from  all  the  States  of  the  Church,  and  that  all 
places  taken  by  Spain  should  be  restored. 

The  treaty  of  Cateau  Cambresis  (a.d.  1559)  restored 
the  peace  of  Europe ;  and,  during  the  remaining  half  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  the  history  of  the  Papal  See  is 
devoid  of  political  interest.  Paul  IV  died  congratulat- 
ing the  Church  upon  such  a  champion  as  Philip  II, 
and  upon  such  a  bulwark  as  the  Inquisition. 

The  only  overt  act  of  the  Roman  curia  during  this 
period  which  occasioned  political  ferment,  was  the 
publication,  during  the  Pontificate  of  Pius  V,  of  the 
bull  In  Ccena  Domini.  This  famous  bull,  published 
with  great  solemnity,  a.d.  1568,  was  the  work  of  many 
successive  Pontiffs.  We  do  not  look  for  beatitudes  in 
a  Papal  bull,  and  assuredly  they  are  not  to  be  found 
here.  Promulgated  as  a  law  binding  upon  Christendom 
throughout  all  the  ages, — imposed  upon  all  bishops  and 
priests  to  be  impressed  in  the  Confessional  upon  the 
consciences  of  believers,  and,  for  two  hundred  years, 
annually  published  in  Rome  upon  Maundy  Thursday, — 
this  precious  document  bristles  with  anathemas  reflect- 
ing the  spirit  of  the  system  from  which  it  emanated. 
It  served  at  least  one  useful  purpose,  in  demonstrating 
that  in  Catholic  Europe  there  existed  a  limit  to  Papal 
encroachments.  Sovereigns  and  parliaments  forbade 
its  publication.  The  French  parliament  ordained  that 
all  who  promulgated  the  bull  should  be  held  guilty 
of  high  treason.  Philip  II  forbade  its  introduction 
into  Spain.  Rudolph  II  protested  against  its  pub- 
lication in  Germany.  The  bishops  themselves  op- 
posed it  in  the  Netherlands  ;  whilst,  two  hundred 
years  later,  c  so  rigid  a  Catholic  as  Maria  Theresa ' 
energetically  repulsed  a  Papal  decree  which  c  encroaches 


VII.]  OF    THE  PAPACY.  1 25 

on  the  independence  and  sovereign  rights  of  States  in 
the  imposition  of  taxes,  the  exercise  of  judicial  authority, 
and  the  punishment  of  the  crimes  of  clerics,  by  threaten- 
ing with  excommunication  and  anathema  those  who 
perform  such  acts  without  special  Papal  permission  V 

The  supreme  care  and  duty  of  the  Pontiffs  of  this 
period  was  the  extirpation  of  heretics ;  a  work  in 
the  prosecution  of  which  they  acquitted  themselves 
right  valiantly,  pressing  into  their  service  fire  and 
sword, — in  short,  every  mode  of  assault  which  a  cor- 
rupt and  vindictive,  a  fierce  and  fanatical  theocracy 
could  bring  to  bear  upon  the  vindication  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  faith  against  all  assailants.  This  policy  cul- 
minated in  that  most  awful  of  all  crimes  that  stain  the 
page  of  history, — c  that  largest  and  most  deadly  mani- 
festation of  the  evil  passions  of  man's  heart,  that 
masterpiece  of  treachery  and  cruelty,  that  huge  bath 
and  mighty  banquet  of  blood,  which  has  never  had, 
and  never  will  have,  fellow  or  rival,  the  Massacre  of 
St.  Bartholomew — the  long  and  deliberately  planned 
slaughter  of  30,000  Protestants  by  fellow-countrymen 
with  whom  they  had  recently  contracted  amity,  of  sub- 
jects by  a  government  that  had  lately  and  solemnly 
pledged  them  its  protection,  and  of  guests  by  hosts 
who  had  given  a  special  invitation  and  afforded  an 
ostentatious  hospitality.  This  great  work  of  aggres- 
sive and  vengeful  Romanism,  in  which  all  the  con- 
spicuous champions  of  the  Roman  Church  concurred, 
which  Philip  II  encouraged,  which  Catherine  de  Medici 
directed,  at  which  Charles  IX,  Henry  of  Anjou,  and 
Henry  of  Guise  assisted,  received  the  benediction  of  the 
sovereign  Pontiff 2.' 

1  '  The  Pope  and  the  Gouncil,'  by  Janus. 

2  '  The  Papal  Drama,'  by  Thomas  ¥USHh 

(university 


126  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

The  sixteenth  century  closed  under  the  Pontificate 
of  Sixtus  V,  a  type  of  Pope  not  unlike  him  who  first 
assumed  the  tiara, — a  great  temporal  Pope,  who,  found- 
ing his  power  upon  terror,  clung  to  it  as  a  heaven- 
bestowed  trust,  profoundly  convinced  that  in  all  his  un- 
dertakings he  possessed  the  immediate  favour  of  God1. 
The  gigantic  nature  of  his  projects,  in  which  he  per- 
suaded himself  that,  when  his  own  resources  failed, 
God  would  supplement  them  with  legions  of  angels, 
commanded  the  admiration  of  Europe.  There  is  but 
too  much  reason  to  believe  that  the  indulgence  of  the 
iconoclastic  tastes  of  Sixtus  V  has  deprived  Rome  of 
many  of  the  choice  treasures  of  antiquity,  in  which  he 
possessed  neither  the  comprehension  nor  the  sympathy 
to  perceive  anything  but  c  ugly  antiquities.'  Happily 
the  vandalism  which  marked  his  passion  for  architec- 
tural pursuits  was  checked  by  the  necessity  of  building 
as  well  as  of  levelling,  and  many  of  the  sublime  monu- 
ments of  the  Republic  which  had  been  destined  to 
destruction,  as  cugly  antiquities,'  escaped.  He  de- 
signed to  employ  the  enormous  wealth,  of  which  the 
extraordinary  system  of  finance  then  in  vogue  at  Rome 
gave  him  the  control,  in  the  execution  of  public  works 
worthy  of  the  city  which,  under  his  rule,  once  more 
assumed  the  aspect  of  the  capital  of  the  world.  Most 
conspicuous  amongst  these  were  the  colossal  aqueducts 
by  which  he  supplied  the  city  with  pure  water.  c  He 
brought  the  Aqua  Martia  from  the  Agro  Colonna,  a 
distance  of  two-and-twenty  miles,  to  Rome :  and  this 
in  defiance  of  all  obstacles,  carrying  it  partly  under- 
ground and  partly  on  lofty  arches.  How  great  was  the 
satisfaction  with  which  Sixtus  beheld  the  first  stream  of 

1  Ranke. 


VII.]  OF    THE  PAPACY.  127 

this  water  pouring  its  bright  wealth  into  his  own  vine- 
garden  (vigna) ;  still  further  did  he  then  bear  it  onward 
to  Santa  Susanna,  on  the  Quirinal.  From  his  own 
name  he  called  it  the  "  Acqua  Felice,"  and  it  was  with 
no  little  self-complacency  that  he  placed  a  statue  by 
the  fountain,  representing  Moses,  who  brings  water, 
streaming  from  the  rock,  at  the  touch  of  his  staff1.' 
In  this  grand  enterprize  he  declared  to  the  architect 
that  he  designed  to  produce  a  work  whose  magnificence 
might  compete  with  the  glories  of  Imperial  Rome, 
c  alarmed  by  no  difficulty,  and  deterred  by  no  cost/ 
Assuredly  Sixtus  V  vindicated  his  claim  to  the  title  of 
Pontiff2.  He  governed  with  great  ability,  and  revived 
the  waning  influence  of  Roman  diplomacy.  How  he 
lent  all  the  power  of  the  Roman  See  to  stir  up  the 
fierce  democracy  of  France  in  its  contest  with  Henry 
of  Navarre ;  how,  in  his  person,  he  assailed  the  prin- 
ciples of  legitimacy,  and,  after  citing  Henry  III  to 
appear  in  person  at  the  court  of  Rome,  and  answer  for 
the  murder  of  Cardinal  Guise,  he  hurled  against  the 
nonconforming  monarch  a  fierce  bull  of  excommunica- 
tion; how  he  frantically  rejoiced  in  the  subsequent 
assassination  of  Henry,  attributing  it  to  the  immediate 
intervention  of  God  that  the  king  had  been  struck 
down  by  the  hand  of  a  poor  monk ;  finally  how,  when 
Henry  of  Navarre,  a  Protestant,  whom  he  had  excom- 
municated, assumed  the  title  of  King  of  France,  he  was 
deterred  only  by  his  impatience  of  Spanish  domination 
in  Italy  from  helping  to  establish  it  in  France, — these 
things  are  familiar  to  every  reader  of  that  sad  but 
interesting  episode  in  French  history,  the  religious 
wars  of  the  sixteenth  century. 

1  Ranke.  2  See  page  4. 


128  THE    TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

The  liberty  of  Italy  was  now  completely  extinguished 
by  her  subjection  to  foreign  domination.  The  authority 
of  the  Papacy,  also,  which  for  a  brief  interval  seemed 
to  have  recovered  much  of  the  power  it  possessed  in 
the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries,  had  fallen.  Of  this 
fact  a  significant  illustration  had  been  furnished  early 
in  the  sixteenth  century,  in  the  resentment  of  Fer- 
dinand II  of  Naples,  at  the  pretensions  of  the  Pontiff 
to  interpose  in  his  kingdom.  The  days  were  passed 
when  the  potentates  of  Europe  trembled  before  that 
spiritual  power  which  was  able,  when  wielded  by  a 
Hildebrand  or  a  Boniface,  to  repel  the  proudest  preten- 
sions, and  baffle  the  haughtiest  designs.  Learning  that 
a  Papal  messenger  had  brought  a  bull  into  his  kingdom 
without  the  royal  sanction,  Ferdinand  thus  wrote  to  his 
Viceroy  at  Naples : — c  We  are  equally  surprised  and 
displeased  with  you  that  you  likewise  have  not  resorted 
to  violent  means,  and  sent  to  the  gallows  the  messenger 
who  presented  you  with  that  brief.  .  .  .  You  must  use 
all  possible  diligence  to  seize  the  messenger  if  he  be 
still  in  the  same  kingdom ;  if  you  can  get  hold  of  him, 
he  must  retract  the  presentation  which  he  made  you  of 
the  brief,  and  renounce  it  by  a  formal  act,  after  which 
you  will  have  him  immediately  hanged  ».'  More  than  a 
century  had  elapsed  since,  in  England,  the  promulga- 
tion of  the  Statute  of  Praemunire  had  called  forth  the 
bitter  invectives  of  Martin  V.  But  now  almost  every 
European  government  had  passed  similar  laws  in  con- 
tempt of  the  pretensions  of  the  Holy  See. 

Sixtus  V,  the  Pope  who  c  kept  the  world  in  perpetual 
movement/  whilst  entertaining  exaggerated  conceptions 

1  Letter  of  Ferdinand  II  to  the  Neapolitan  Deputy.  See 
Butt's  '  History  of  Italy,'  vol.  i. 


VII.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  1^9 


of  the  dignity  of  his  position,  was  mainly  concerned 
for  the  aggrandizement  of  the  spiritual  power  of  the 
Papacy.  In  the  height  of  his  contest  with  Henry  IV, 
the  victory  which  this  Pontiff  desired  was  the  victory  of 
Catholicism ;  the  restoration  of  the  universal  supremacy 
of  the  Roman  Church.  When  rebuking  the  Venetians 
for  their  congratulation  of  the  heretical  monarch  on 
his  accession,  he  thus  addressed  the  Venetian  ambas- 
sador : — c  I  beseech  you  to  recall  at  least  one  step. 
The  Catholic  king  has  recalled  many  because  we 
desired  it,  not  from  fear  of  us,  for  our  strength,  as 
compared  with  his,  is  but  as  a  fly  compared  with  an 
elephant  j  but  he  has  done  it  from  love,  and  because 
it  was  the  Pope  who  had  spoken,  the  'vicegerent  of  Christ, 
who  prescribes  the  rule  of  faith  to  him,  and  to  all  others? 
And  when,  shortly  afterwards,  Monseigneur  de  Luxem- 
bourg, bearing  a  charge  from  the  Catholic  peers  attached 
to  Henry  IV,  was  admitted  to  an  interview  with  his 
Holiness,  and  expatiated  upon  the  personal  qualities, 
the  courage  and  magnanimity  of  the  king,  c  the  Pope,5 
says  Ranke,  c  was  quite  enchanted  with  this  descrip- 
tion. "  In  good  truth,"  he  exclaimed,  cc  it  repents  me 
that  I  have  excommunicated  him."  Luxembourg  de- 
clared that  his  lord  and  king  would  render  himself 
worthy  of  absolution ;  and,  at  the  feet  of  his  Holiness, 
would  return  into  the  bosom  of  the  Catholic  Church.  u  In 
that  case,"  replied  the  Pope,  cc  I  will  embrace  and  con- 
sole him  V ' 

Sixtus  was  less  concerned  to  assert  his  prerogatives 
as  a  temporal  prince  than  to  vindicate  those  of  the 
neighbouring  secular  powers,  whose  privileges  he 
sought  to  uphold  and  extend.      He  abolished  entirely 

1  Ranke's  *  History  of  the  Popes/  vol.  ii. 
K 


130  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

the  Congregation  taking  cognizance  of  ecclesiastical 
jurisdiction  in  foreign  countries,  whose  interposition 
had  been  the  occasion  of  most  of  the  disputes  between 
the  Holy  See  and  the  Empire.  This  voluntary  conces- 
sion of  contested  rights,  however  much  it  insulted  the 
infallibility  of  his  predecessors,  was  consistent  with 
the  whole  scope  of  policy  pursued  by  Sixtus  V.  How 
completely  had  the  aspects  of  the  Papacy  changed  when 
an  arbitrary,  impetuous,  and  powerful  Pontiff  could 
thus  voluntarily  divest  himself  of  the  trammels  of 
secular  power  !  c  He  that  abaseth  himself  shall  be 
exalted.'  Sixtus  V  enjoyed  the  fruits  of  his  magna- 
nimity. cHe  received  an  autograph  letter  from  the 
King  of  Spain,  who  informed  him  that  he  had  com- 
manded his  ministers  in  Milan  and  Naples  to  receive 
the  Papal  ordinances  with  obedience  no  less  implicit 
than  that  paid  to  his  own.  This  moved  the  Pope  even 
to  tears,  u  That  the  most  exalted  monarch  of  the  world 
should,"  as  he  said,  cc  so  honour  a  poor  monk  V  ' 

An  important  enactment  of  this  Pontificate  was  the 
limitation  of  the  number  of  cardinals  to  seventy,  c  as 
Moses,'  said  Sixtus,  c  chose  seventy  elders  from  among 
the  whole  nation,  to  take  counsel  with  them.'  He  has 
also  the  credit  of  having  fixed  a  high  standard  of 
personal  character  as  the  indispensable  condition  of 
admission  to  this  high  and  sacred  office.  Men,  they 
must  be, c  of  true  distinction,  of  morals  most  exemplary, 
their  words  oracles,  their  whole  being  a  model  and  rule 
of  life  and  faith  to  all  who  behold  them ;  the  salt  of 
the  earth,  the  light  set  upon  a  candlestick *.'  Shades 
of  Luther  and  Melancthon !  see  ye  not  in  this  Roman 
Church,  presided  over  by  a  Chief  Pastor  of  Apostolic 

1  Ranke,  vol.  i.  2  '  Bullar,'  quoted  by  Ranker 


VII.]  OF    THE   PAPACY.  IJI 

humility ;  whose  hierarchy,  in  theory  at  least,  had  at- 
tained so  high  a  standard  of  purity  and  excellence; 
beloved  at  home,  respected  abroad ;  disentangling  itself 
from  political  strifes  and  ambition ;  devoting  itself  to 
the  reform  of  abuses,  and  to  the  advancement  of  re- 
ligion,— see  ye  not  here  the  signs,  in  which  ye  would 
not  believe,  of  its  Divine  Seal  as  the  true  Catholic, 
Apostolic,  and  Infallible  Church!  The  limits  of  this 
narrative  do  not  admit  of  our  examination  into  the 
principles  upon  which  the  Roman  Church,  at  the  close 
of  the  sixteenth  century,  contemplated  the  c  advance- 
ment of  religion.5  It  must  suffice  us  to  state  that  the 
hopes,  inspired  by  the  character  of  Sixtus  V,  of  a  new 
era  in  the  history  of  the  Papacy,  in  which,  abandoning 
the  traditions  of  eight  hundred  years,  it  should  vin- 
dicate its  claims  to  the  reverence  and  obedience  of 
Christendom,  as  an  essentially  spiritual  institution, 
whose  purity  and  unworldliness  certified  its  Divine 
origin  and  authority,  were  not  destined  to  fulfilment. 


K  2 


CHAPTER    VIII. 


The  annals  of  the  Papacy  during  the  seventeenth 
century  are  interesting  in  their  internal  characteristics, 
as  they  are  barren  of  political  significance.  Pontiffs 
of  every  variety  of  character  occupied  the  Papal  throne ; 
but  the  moral  weight  of  the  Papacy  was  reduced  to  its 
lowest  point.  Baffled  in  their  attempts  to  extend  their 
Italian  territory,  the  Popes  wisely  devoted  themselves 
to  energetic  struggles  against  the  spread  of  the  Re- 
formed faith,  and  to  the  enlargement  of  their  spiritual 
dominion. 

The  long  Pontificate  of  Urban  VIII  (a.d.  1623-44) 
is  alone  distinguished  for  its  political  importance.  The 
part  which  this  bold  schemer  played  in  the  European 
complications  which  issued  in  the  Thirty  Years'  War, 
was  neither  dignified  nor  successful.  On  his  accession 
he  confirmed  the  dispensation,  granted  by  his  prede- 
cessor, for  the  marriage  of  Prince  Charles  Stuart  with 
the  Infanta  of  Spain.  Not,  however,  until  guarantees 
had  been  secured  from  the  heretical  King  of  England, 
—  who,  to  quote  his  own  words,  cwas  not  a  monsieur 
who  could  shift  his  religion  as  easily  as  he  could  shift 
his  shirt  when  he  came  in  from  tennis/ — for  securing 
freedom  for  the  exercise  of  religion  to  the  Infanta  and 
her  household.  Nor  was  this  all.  The  Pontiff  had  set 
his  heart  upon  the  conversion  of  England1.     One  great 

1  See  Gardiner's  '  Prince  Charles  and  the  Spanish  Marriage.' 


THE   TEMPORAL  POWER     OF   THE   PAPACY.      1 33 

objection  urged  against  the  proposed  marriage,  at  the 
Court  of  Rome,  was  that  it  would  bring  about  increased 
facilities  of  communication  between  England  and  Spain, 
which  might  be  c  detrimental  to  the  purity  of  religion ' 
in  the  latter  country.  When,  therefore,  the  marriage 
was  conceded,  the  cardinals  set  themselves  to  secure 
that  the  increased  communication  between  the  two 
countries  should  be  to  the  advantage  of  Roman  Cathol- 
icism. Overtures  were  accordingly  made  to  James  I 
to  induce  him  to  emulate  the  courage  and  piety  of 
Henry  IV  of  France,  and  return  to  the  bosom  of  the 
Roman  Church ;  or  at  least  to  encourage  the  Prince 
of  Wales  to  embrace  the  faith  of  Rome.  But,  finding 
that  the  king  valued  his  crown  and  his  religion  above 
the  Spanish  union,  they  contented  themselves  with 
securing  the  repeal,  or  at  least  the  suspension,  of  the 
penal  laws  against  the  Catholics,  and  exemption  from 
secular  jurisdiction  to  the  ecclesiastics  of  the  Infanta's 
household. 

On  the  accession  of  Urban  VIII,  the  two  great 
Catholic  powers  were  at  open  feud,  each  arming  for 
the  struggle  which  must  result  in  the  destruction  of 
one  or  the  other.  The  Emperor  Ferdinand  II,  ortho- 
dox and  victorious,  was  pledged  to  the  rooting  out 
of  Protestantism  from  the  Imperial  dominions.  The 
destinies  of  France  were  in  the  mighty  grasp  of 
Richelieu  who,  jealous  of  the  preponderating  power  of 
the  Emperor,  had  entered  into  that  European  com- 
bination which  brought  him,  Cardinal  of  the  Roman 
Church  though  he  was,  into  alliance  with  the  Huguenots. 
He  was  bent  upon  the  destruction  of  the  Spanish- 
Austrian  power, — of  that  power  to  which  the  Papacy 
owed  the  Catholic  reaction. 


134  THE   TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

In  March,  a.d.  1626,  Europe  was  startled  by  the  intel- 
ligence that  France  had  concluded  a  peace  with  Spain. 
The  too-confiding  Huguenots,  whom  Richelieu  had 
employed  for  the  furtherance  of  his  own  purposes,  then 
discovered  the  perfidy  to  which  their  confidence  had 
blinded  them.  Already  had  their  betrayer  negotiated 
with  Spain  measures  for  their  destruction. 

The  dangers  to  Catholicism  which  Urban  VIII  had 
anticipated  from  the  feud  between  the  two  great 
Catholic  powers  had  now  disappeared.  The  oppor- 
tunity was  favourable  for  the  accomplishment  of  a 
design  which  the  Pontiff  had  long  entertained.  This 
was  none  other  than  the  formation  of  a  league  with 
the  two  powers  for  an  attack  upon  England,  c  to  wrest 
the  crown  from  a  prince  who,  as  a  heretic  before  God, 
and  regardless  of  his  word  before  men,  was  altogether 
unworthy  to  wear  it1.'  Ireland  was  the  portion  of 
booty  which  was  to  fall  to  the  Holy  See ;  but  his  Holi- 
ness was  recommended  c  to  allow  no  word  to  transpire 
on  the  subject,  lest  it  might  appear  that  his  suggestions 
had  been  actuated  by  worldly  views.'  It  was  not  dif- 
ficult to  persuade  either  of  the  contracting  powers  of 
the  feasibility  and  advantage  of  the  scheme.  The 
articles  of  the  treaty  were  drawn  up  by  Richelieu,  and 
ratified  April  20,  a.d.  1627. 

It  was  impossible  that  plans  of  such  magnitude  as 
were  involved  in  a  projected  invasion  of  England 
should  pass  unobserved.  Within  three  months  from  the 
signing  of  the  treaty,  the  allies  were  themselves  at- 
tacked by  England.  Buckingham,  at  the  head  of  a 
magnificent  fleet,  appeared  off'  the  coasts  of  France  in 
July,  a.d.  1627.    He  summoned  the  Huguenots  to  arms. 

1  Ranke. 


VIII.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  1 35 

After  some  hesitation  they  responded  to  his  call ;  but  the 
war  was  conducted  with  little  energy,  and  resulted  in 
disaster  to  the  Protestants.  Thus,  although  thwarted 
in  his  designs  against  England,  Urban  had  the  satis- 
faction of  witnessing  the  triumphs  of  Catholicism. 
The  assassination  of  Buckingham  left  the  destinies 
of  the  Huguenots  in  the  hands  of  Richelieu  who,  in 
the  following  year,  reopened  negotiations  with  Spain 
for  a  combined  attack  upon  England. 

But  events  were  already  transpiring  in  Italy  which 
affected  the  relationships  of  France  and  Spain,  and 
once  more  brought  the  Pontiff,  as  an  Italian  prince, 
and  as  the  head  of  Catholicism,  into  a  prominent  posi- 
tion. Vincenzo  II,  Duke  of  Mantua,  had  died  without 
issue.  His  next  of  kin,  the  Duke  de  Nevers,  was 
a  Frenchman.  Apprehension  of  the  jealousy  with 
which  Austria  and  Spain  might  view  the  acquisition, 
by  a  Frenchman,  of  sovereignty  in  Upper  Italy,  induced 
Nevers  to  adopt  a  line  of  action  which  brought  about 
the  very  evils  from  which  he  sought  to  escape.  Before 
the  death  of  Vincenzo,  he  proceeded  secretly  to  Mantua 
and  procured  the  old  duke's  recognition  of  his  claims. 
One  other  step  only  appeared  necessary  to  ensure 
to  Nevers  the  peaceable  possession  of  his  crown.  In 
a  convent  school  at  Mantua  was  a  young  girl,  great- 
granddaughter  of  Philip  II,  the  only  remaining  repre- 
sentative of  the  direct  native  line.  A  marriage  with 
this  princess  was  speedily  arranged,  and  solemnized 
in  the  palace,  before  intelligence  of  Vincenzo's  death 
reached  Vienna  or  Madrid.  This  ill-advised  procedure 
drew  upon  Nevers  the  vengeance  of  the  two  powers 
which  he  had  vainly  thought  thus  to  elude,  and,  says 
Ranke,  cIt  will   be   readily   admitted  that  they  were 


I36  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

calculated  to  exasperate  and  embitter  these  mighty 
sovereigns,  whose  pleasure  it  was  to  assume  a  character 
of  religious  as  well  as  temporal  majesty,  to  have  a  kins- 
woman married  without  their  consent,  nay,  without 
their  knowledge,  and  with  a  sort  of  violence;  an 
important  fief  taken  into  possession  without  the  slightest 
deference  to  the  feudal  sovereign1!' 

The  part  which  Urban  VIII  designed  to  take  in 
these  complications  was  soon  made  apparent.  The 
marriage  of  the  young  duke  with  his  cousin  could  only 
be  completed  by  a  Papal  dispensation.  c  The  Pontiff 
granted  this  without  having  consulted  the  nearest 
kinsmen  of  the  lady — Philip  of  Spain  and  the  Emperor ; 
and  it  was  besides  prepared  precisely  at  the  moment 
required  V  As  the  proceedings  of  Austria  grew  more 
threatening,  the  Pope  turned  of  his  own  accord  to 
France.  It  was  for  this  that  Richelieu  waited.  He 
at  once  proceeded  with  alacrity  to  bring  his  boldest 
plans .  to  bear  against  Spain  and  Austria,  when  thus 
invited  by  the  Roman  Pontiff.  cThe  king,'  said 
Urban,  c  might  send  an  army  into  the  field  even  before 
the  reduction  of  La  Rochelle  was  effected ;  an  expedi- 
tion for  the  assistance  of  Mantua  would  be  quite  as 
pleasing  to  God  as  the  beleaguering  of  that  chief 
bulwark  of  the  Huguenots.  Let  the  king  only  appear 
at  Lyons  and  declare  himself  for  the  freedom  of  Italy, 
and  the  Pope  on  his  part  would  not  delay  to  bring  his 
forces  into  action  and  unite  himself  with  the  king  3.' 

Thus  recommenced  the  war,  in  which  nearly  all 
Europe  was  speedily  embroiled.     The  personal  charac- 

1  Ranke's  '  History  of  the  Popes,'  vol.  ii. 

2  Ibid. 

3  *  Bethune's  Despatches,'  quoted  by  Ranke,  vol.  ii. 


VIII.]  OF    THE  PAPACY.  137 

teristics  of  its  leading  actors,  and  the  momentous 
interests  at  stake,  constituted  it  one  of  the  most 
interesting  incidents  of  modern  history.  I  am  com- 
pelled to  assume  the  reader's  familiarity  with  the 
history  of  the  gigantic  struggle,  and  can  here  only 
glance  at  its  bearings  upon  the  temporal  power  of  the 
Holy  See. 

It  was  inevitable  that  recollections  of  the  ancient 
supremacy  of  the  Emperors  should  be  recalled,  and  that 
the  secular  rights  of  the  Emperor,  as  opposed  to  those 
of  the  Holy  See,  should  be  insisted  on.  It  might  be 
expected  that  the  interest  of  the  war  would  centre  in 
the  respective  heads  of  the  two  powers, — in  the  re- 
suscitated, struggle  for  supremacy  between  the  Papacy 
and  the  Empire, — and  that,  albeit  the  two  leading 
powers  of  Catholic  Christendom  were  opposed  to  each 
other  in  arms,  the  struggle  would  resolve  itself  into 
a  religious  war.  It  was  far  otherwise.  We  must  look 
elsewhere,  even  to  the  champion  of  Protestantism,  and 
to  his  strange  ally,  Richelieu,  the  consummate  schemer, 
for  the  heroes  upon  whom  the  gaze  of  Europe  was 
intently  bent.  Both  Emperor  and  Pope  were  men  of 
vacillating  purpose,  the  slaves  of  expediency;  and 
though  obstinate,  ambitious,  and  brave,  incapable  as 
generals, — mere  charlatans  in  statesmanship.  Thus 
Ferdinand,  when  he  had  conquered  Mantua  (and  again, 
when  his  distinguished  general  Wallenstein,  who  had 
raised  an  army  of  50,000  men  \  had  defeated  the  King 
of  Denmark,  and  held  in  check  the  practised  warriors 
who  had  threatened  the  Emperor's  overthrow  in  Ger- 
many), might  have  made  himself  master  of  Italy.  On 
the  former  occasion  he  resigned  the  Duchy  to  Nevers, 

1  '  Compendium  of  Universal  History.'     Jarrold  and  Sons. 


I38  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

with  the  single  condition  of  the  empty  formality  that 
he  should  sue  for  pardon.  On  the  latter,  he  yielded  to 
the  jealousy  of  his  other  generals,  and  to  the  importu- 
nity of  the  German  princes,  and  deprived  Wallenstein 
of  his  command.  With  the  dismissal  of  this  brave  and 
able  general  who,  on  a  suspicion  of  treason,  the  Emperor 
subsequently  assassinated,  his  hopes  of  obtaining  the 
mastery  of  Italy  vanished. 

Thus,  too,  the  Pontiff — at  war  with  that  power  by 
which  the  Catholic  restoration  had  been  most  zealously 
promoted ;  in  alliance  at  once  with  Gustavus  Adolphus 
and  with  Richelieu,  the  most  inveterate  hater  of  the 
Protestants — found  himself  a  promoter  of  political 
changes  in  direct  opposition  to  the  interests  of  the 
Church.  Foreseeing  the  necessity  of  a  change  in  the 
Papal  policy,  as  the  victorious  Swedes  swept  over 
Bavaria,  took  Munich,  and  advanced  towards  the  Italian 
borders,  he  yet  refused  to  recognize  the  war  as  one 
of  religion;  bewailing  that  the  Papal  treasury  was 
exhausted,  and  affirming  that  ke  could  do  nothing.  c  The 
members  of  the  curia j  says  Ranke,  c  and  the  inhabitants 
of  Rome  were  amazed.  "  Amidst  the  conflagration  of 
Catholic  churches  and  monasteries," — thus  it  was  they 
expressed  themselves, — cC  the  Pope  stands  cold  and  rigid 
as  ice.  The  King  of  Sweden  has  more  zeal  for  his 
Lutheranism  than  the  holy  Father  for  the  only  true  and 
saving  Catholic  faith 1." '  Yet  so  strangely  perplexed 
was  his  policy  that,  whilst  Urban  thus  incurred  obloquy 
for  his  defection  in  the  guardiancy  of  the  interests  of 
the  Church,  in  theory  he  clung  tenaciously  to  the  last 
rag  of  his  Pontifical  claims,  even  such  as  were  most 
palpably  untenable.  Thus,  for  instance,  in  the  first 
1  Ranke,  vol.  ii. 


VII J.]  OF    THE  PAPACY.  1 39 

attempt  to  negotiate  a  general  peace,  a.  d.  1636, 
c  the  hands  of  the  legate  were  tied,  precisely  in  regard 
to  all  those  important  points  on  which  everything  was 
absolutely  depending1/  It  excites  a  smile  to  read  that 
the  legate  was  enjoined  to  oppose  the  restitution  of  the 
Palatinate  to  a  non-Catholic  prince !  What  the  Pope 
effected  was  a  demonstration  of  the  impracticable 
character  of  the  Popedom,  and  its  divorcement  from 
the  living  and  actual  interests  of  the  world.  Thus, 
when  a  peace  was  concluded  upon  principles  which 
Urban  had  condemned,  which  dissolved  the  c  Catholic 
League '  and  the  c  Evangelical  Union/  by  the  conces- 
sion of  a  full  equality  of  political  rights  to  the  Roman 
Catholics,  the  Lutherans,  and  the  Calvinists,  secured 
the  territorial  rights  of  the  German  princes,  and  defined 
the  powers  of  the  Emperor2,  the  Papacy  found  itself 
under  the  melancholy  necessity  of — protesting. 

The  articles  relating  to  ecclesiastical  affairs,  in  the 
Peace  of  Westphalia,  cwere  opened  by  a  declaration 
that  no  regard  should  be  paid  to  the  opposition  of  any 
person,  be  he  whom  he  might,  and  whether  of  temporal 
or  spiritual  condition3/  Thus  was  the  death  knell 
sounded  of  those  dreams  of  universal  conquest,  in  which 
the  Papacy  had  for  ages  indulged.  The  causes  which 
led  to  the  check  now  imposed  upon  that  august  power 
which  had  planned,  and  even  executed,  enterprizes 
involving  the  most  extravagant  assumptions,  are  so 
plain  that  he  who  runs  may  read  them.  They  may 
be  summed  up  in  this : — The  practical  abandonment  by 
the  Roman  pastor  of  his  spiritual  functions,  in  the  pur- 
suit of  the  incompatible  gewgaws  of  secular  sovereignty. 

1  Ranke. 

2  '  Compendium  of  Universal  History.'         ^ 3  ■  F.ankg. 

CJNIVERSIT 


I4O  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

Urban  VIII  did  not  survive  to  witness  the  limitations 
imposed  upon  Papal  claims  by  the  Peace  of  Westphalia. 
But  the  very  malady  of  which  he  died  (a.d.  1644)  was 
brought  on  by  the  distress  of  mind  he  experienced  in 
signing  the  Peace  of  Castro.  Strong  in  his  misguided 
confidence  that  c  God  and  the  world  would  be  on  his 
side/  Urban  had  put  forth  all  his  strength  to  wrest 
Parma  from  its  duke.  But  in  this  attempt  he  found  him- 
self arrayed  against  God  and  the  world  ;  for  the  Italians 
viewed  with  jealousy  the  repeated  extensions  of  the 
ecclesiastical  territory,  and  also  the  increasing  power  of 
France,  of  which  country  Urban  was  regarded  as  the 
determined  ally.  The  growing  resolution  of  the 
Italians  to  resist  the  encroachments  of  the  Pontiff,  at 
length  compelled  him  to  think  of  peace.  The  country 
was  burdened  with  the  most  oppressive  imposts.  Bread, 
salt,  wine,  firewood,  every  article  in  fact  of  indispens- 
able necessity,  was  heavily  taxed ;  and  the  cost  of  the 
war  had  already  reached  12,000,000  of  scudi1.  The 
treasury  was  exhausted. 

In  the  failure  of  the  expedition  against  the  Duke  of 
Parma,  it  was  obvious  that  the  Papacy,  already  humbled 
in  its  loss  of  influence  in  European  affairs,  had  suffered 
a  signal  defeat  at  home.  The  proud  Pontiff,  without 
an  ally,  his  resources  exhausted,  his  enemies  trium- 
phant, the  spiritual  weapons  of  the  Church  contemned, 
had  reached  an  extremity  which  moves  the  beholder 
to  pity.  But  the  gradations  of  anguish  in  which  his 
life  terminated  were  the  natural  and  inevitable  result 
of  a  career  which,  the  more  it  is  studied,  the  clearer 
grows  the  duty  of  moderating  that c  harmful  pity'  which 

1  Ranke. 


VIII.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  141 


enervates  the  moral  sentiments  and  blinds  the  judg- 
ment : — 

'This  too  much  lenity 

And  harmful  pity  must  be  laid  aside. 

To  whom  do  lions  cast  their  gentle  looks  ? 

Not  to  the  beast  that  would  usurp  their  den. 

Whose  hand  is  that  the  forest  bear  doth  lick? 

Not  his  that  spoils  her  young  before  her  face. 

Who  'scapes  the  lurking  serpent's  mortal  sting? 

Not  he  that  sets  his  foot  upon  her  back. 

The  smallest  worm  will  turn,  being  trodden  on ; 

And  doves  will  peck,  in  safeguard  of  their  brood  V 

Few  were  the  Italian  hearts  which  throbbed  with 
pity  for  the  dying  Pontiff,  plunged  though  he  was  into 
a  gulph  of  bottomless  misery;  an  awakened  conscience 
adding  the  tortures  of  remorse  to  his  experience  of 
bitterness.  He  died,  praying  that  c  Heaven  would 
avenge  him  on  the  godless  princes  who  had  forced  him 
into  war.'  The  life  of  this  c  Vicar  of  Christ''  had  been 
in  such  strong  contrast  with  that  of  our  blessed  Lord, 
that  the  contrast  in  the  dying  prayer  seems  consistent 
and  natural. 

The  treaty  of  Westphalia,  a.d.  1648,  which  closed 
one  of  the  most  terrible  dramas  of  European  history, 
extinguished  the  religious  element  which  had  coloured 
the  policy  and  the  wars  of  Europe  for  nearly  a  century. 
c  It  closed,5  says  a  modern  writer,  c  a  very  great  and 
awful  act  in  the  history  of  the  world.  The  battle  of 
the  Churches,  as  far  as  it  was  a  matter  of  swords,  as 
far  as  soldiers  and  statesmen  had  to  do  with  it,  was 
over ;  that  is,  it  was  over  as  a  great  European  business, 
as  a  great  scene  in  history2.' 

1  Shakespeare. 

2  '  The  Papal  Drama,'  by  T.  H.  Gill.    Longmans. 


142  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

From  the  Peace  of  Westphalia  to  the  close  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  the  Papacy  continued  to 
sink  into  deeper  ignominy  and  decrepitude,  both  as 
a  spiritual  and  temporal  power ;  nor  were  the  personal 
characters  of  the  Pontiffs  such  as  to  command  the  re- 
spect or  the  sympathy  of  Europe.  The  eldest  son  of 
the  Church,  the  arch-persecutor  of  Protestants,  insulted 
and  humiliated  the  Power  in  whose  name  he  persecuted 
heretics.  In  a.d.  1664,  Louis  XIV  sent  an  army  into 
Italy,  and  exacted  a  humiliating  reparation  from  Pope 
Alexander  VII,  for  an  affront  alleged  to  have  been 
offered  to  his  ambassadors  at  Rome.  Twenty  years 
later  he  humiliated  his  successor,  Innocent  XI,  by  cur- 
tailing the  episcopal  power  in  France,  and  claiming 
the  right  to  appoint  to  vacant  benefices.  .  In  vain 
Innocent  launched  bulls  and  briefs  against  bishops  who 
had  accepted  benefices  at  the  king's  hands.  c  In  a.d. 
1682  the  clergy  of  France  assembled,  confirmed  the 
right  of  presentation  claimed  by  the  king,  and  under 
the  inspiration  of  Bossuet,  drew  up  the  four  famous 
articles  which  denied  the  Popedom  all  temporal  juris- 
diction in  foreign  states,  declared  a  General  Council 
to  be  above  a  Pope,  recognized  in  the  canons  and 
customs  of  the  French  Church,  and  other  Churches, 
limitations  of  the  Papal  power,  and  pronounced  the 
Papal  decisions,  even  in  matters  of  faith,  liable  to 
alteration,  unless  confirmed  by  the  consent  of  the  whole 
Church1/ 

The  quickened  intellectual  life  of  France  wielded  its 
might  against  the  Papal  power  and  the  Roman  Church. 
The  Papacy  languished  and  dwindled,  and  the  secular 
powers  of  Europe  looked  on  with  indifference. 
1  'The  Papal  Drama/  by  T.  H.Gill. 


VIII.]  OF    THE   PAPACY.  I43 

The  War  of  the  Spanish  Succession,  the  history  of 
which  is  too  familiar  to  require  recapitulation,  after 
disturbing  Europe  for  thirteen  years,  was  terminated  by 
the  Peace  of  Utrecht.  The  provisions  of  this  treaty 
were  favourable  to  Austria;  but  the  peace  which  it 
promised  did  not  last.  Spain  was  excluded  from  Italy  j 
but,  by  the  advice  of  his  bold  and  ambitious  minister, 
Cardinal  Alberoni,  Philip  V  claimed  the  possessions  in 
Italy,  which,  by  the  treaty  of  Cateau  Cambresis,  had 
been  settled  on  the  Spanish  crown.  He  further  claimed 
the  Duchy  of  Parma,  in  right  of  his  wife,  Elizabeth 
Farnese,  a  descendant  of  the  natural  son  of  Paul  III, 
for  whom  the  duchy  had  been  originally  created.  To 
resist  these  claims,  the  quadruple  alliance  was  formed, 
between  England,  France,  Holland,  and  the  Emperor. 
The  extinction  of  the  reigning  line  of  the  Farnese 
family  was  imminent,  and  the  parties  to  this  alliance 
offered  to  the  Spanish  Bourbons  the  reversion  of  the 
Duchies  of  Parma  and  Tuscany.  These  terms  were 
eventually  accepted. 

New  causes  of  contention  soon  arose.  As  the 
Imperial  power  diminished,  the  independence  of  the 
sovereign  princes  was  augmented,  and  it  was  not  until 
a.d.  1749,  that  any  permanent  settlement  of  the  terri- 
torial divisions  of  Italy  was  arranged.  By  successive 
treaties  the  power  of  Austria  was  crippled,  until,  by 
that  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  she  had  nothing  left  in  Italy 
except  the  Duchies  of  Milan  and  Mantua.  Parma  was 
surrendered  to  the  Emperor  Francis  I,  Tuscany  to  the 
Duke  of  Lorraine,  who,  in  exchange,  assented  to  the 
surrender  of  his  hereditary  estates  in  France.  The 
claims  of  Spain  were  allowed  to  the  kingdoms  of 
Naples  and  Sicily ;  the  Duke  of  Savoy  surrendering  his 


144  THE    TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

claim  to  the  latter  in  exchange  for  the  island  of  Sar- 
dinia, with  its  kingly  title.  Hence  the  princes  of  his 
house  have  been  since  known  in  European  history  as 
Kings  of  Sardinia.  These  arrangements  continued  un- 
disturbed up  to  the  period  of  the  French  Revolution. 

After  the  treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  French  influ- 
ence was  paramount  in  the  States  of  the  Church, 
and  sycophancy  to  the  dominant  power  became  the 
recognized  pathway  to  the  occupancy  of  the  chair 
of  the  Apostles.  The  Popes  coquetted  with 
Austria,  but  they  feared  France.  It  was  an  era  of 
weakness  and  decline  in  Papal  rule.  Political  and 
intellectual  life  there  was  none.  Brigandage  throve. 
The  population  of  all  the  principal  towns,  Rome, 
Bologna,  Ferrara,  Imola,  and  others,  dwindled  to  an 
extent  that  appears  incredible.  Education  was  neg- 
lected, and  a  priest-ridden  people  accepted  the  tram- 
mels of  a  priestly  and  oppressive,  though  not  tyrannical, 
government1. 

Singularly  this  era  was  likewise  distinguished  by  a 
line  of  Popes  remarkable  for  their  pureness  of  character, 
their  learning,  and  personal  greatness.  Prominent 
amongst  these  stand  forth  Benedict  XIV  and  Clement 
XIV,  the  former  the  wisest  and  best  of  the  Popes. 
His  wisdom  displayed  itself  in  a  frank  recognition  of 
the  insignificance  of  Papal  power;  and  his  goodness 
in  disregarding  pretensions  which  had  become  ridicu- 
lous, and  in  adapting  his  policy  to  the  requirements 
of  his  time.  cHe  detested  and  discouraged  persecu- 
tion, not  merely  from  his  accurate  discernment  of  the 

1  In  a.d.  1740  the  Counsellor  de  Bosses  wrote : — 'The  Papal 
government,  although  the  worst  in  Europe,  is  at  the  same  time 
the  mildest.' 


VIII.]  OF    THE    PAPACY.  1 45 

time  in  which  he  lived,  but  by  reason  of  a  most  gracious 
and  benignant  nature  •  he  connived  at  the  escape  of 
some  suspected  heretics ;  he  remonstrated  with  Maria 
Theresa  against  the  oppressive  acts  of  her  troops  in 
occupation  of  Genoa,  oppression  which  provoked  the 
heroic  uprising  of  the  Genoese  and  the  ignominious 
expulsion  of  the  Austrians  on  December  2,  a.d.  1746, 
the  noblest  manifestation  of  Italian  energy  during  the 
eighteenth  century.  He  deprecated  the  persecuting 
practices  of  the  vehement  members  of  his  own  Church, 
and  interceded  for  the  oppressed  Protestants  in  Lan- 
guedoc  V  He  commanded  the  admiration  and  respect 
of  Protestants  as  well  as  Catholics  throughout  Europe, 
and  received  the  eulogy  of  the  great  assailant  of  Chris- 
tianity— Voltaire. 

The  other  conspicuous  occupant  of  the  Papal  throne, 
towards  the  close  of  this  century,  to  whom  I  have 
referred — Clement  XIV — was  a  man  too  saintly,  toler- 
ant, and  enlightened,  for  a  Pope  ;  conspicuous,  not  as 
a  ruler,  but  for  sanctity  of  life,  and  elevation  of  per- 
sonal character.  His  Pontificate  was  distinguished  by 
the  suppression  of  the  Order  of  the  Jesuits ;  an  act 
which  they  caused  him  to  expiate  by  a  lingering  and 
torturing  death  from  the  effects  of  poison. 

The  Popes  were  pious,  but  feeble;  the  sovereigns 
of  Europe — and  particularly  of  France — were  feeble 
too;  they  were  also  vicious,  superstitious,  and  bigoted. 
But  a  mighty  mind,  which  scorned  all  despotism,  and, 
pre-eminently,  the  sovereigns  who  then  so  unworthily 
exercised  it ;  which  held  in  abomination  not  only  vice 
and  superstition,  but  religion  also,  swayed  the  intellect 
of  Europe.     Voltaire  may  be  said  to  have  prepared  the 

1  <  The  Papal  Drama,'  by  Thomas  H.  Gill. 
L 


146  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

way,  not  in  France  only,  but  also  in  Germany  and 
Italy,  for  that  upheaving  of  the  nations,  symptoms  of 
which  were  already  apparent.  Before  he  had  tasted, 
in  prison  and  in  exile,  the  power  of  the  existing 
governments  to  perpetuate  the  intellectual  thraldom 
from  which  he  aspired  to  awaken  Europe,  Voltaire 
rejoiced  to  leave  all  that  he  held  dear  in  Paris,  to 
enjoy  for  a  season  the  invigorating  freedom  of  the 
Hague.  Monarchs  contended  to  secure  his  presence 
to  grace  their  courts.  But,  says  his  biographer  \  the 
baubles  of  vanity  do  not  satiate  souls  impelled  by  the 
ambition  of  reigning  over  the  minds  of  men — they  do 
but  supply  new  arms.  The  spectacle  which  Amsterdam 
presented  of  political  freedom,  honest  commerce,  and 
a  hard-working  population,  had  more  attraction  for  the 
soul  of  Voltaire  than  the  splendour  of  courts,  and  the 
flattery  of  sovereigns.  At  Amsterdam,  he  said,  c  No- 
body is  seen  who  has  to  pay  his  court  to  anybody  else ; 
there  people  do  not  form  a  line  to  look  at  a  prince 
passing.  Industry  and  modesty  alone  are  known  at 
Amsterdam.'  No  doubt  the  suppression  of  the c  National 
Epic,3  which  he  had  designed  to  publish  under  the 
patronage  of  Louis  Quinze,  envenomed  his  hatred  of 
that  prince;  and  the  fact  that  Louis  was  influenced 
by  the  Cardinal  Dubois,  on  the  ground  of  the  fiery  de- 
clamations against  the  Inquisition  with  which  the  Epic 
abounded,  was  at  least  not  calculated  to  increase  his 
love  for  the  Church.  His  courage  and  his  generosity 
were  the  dread  of  the  oppressors  who  long  had  feared 
and  hated  him  for  his  writings.  Whatever  the  nation 
in  which  any  striking  injustice  occurred — any  act  of 
bigotry,  or  insult  to  human  nature — Voltaire  carried  it 
1  Condorelt. 


VIII.]  OF    THE  PAPACY.  147 

before  the  tribunal  of  public  opinion  of  Europe ;  and 
c  who  knows/  exclaims  Condorelt,  c  how  often  the  fear 
of  this  sure  and  terrible  vengeance  has  withheld  the 
oppressor's  arm ! ' 

We  have  to  do  with  Voltaire  as  a  politician  and  not 
as  a  controversialist.  Whatever  injury  he  was  instru- 
mental in  inflicting  upon  true  religion  lies  at  the  door 
of  that  Church,  whose  awful  corruptions  and  implacable 
persecutions  fired  his  soul  with  an  inexorable  hatred. 
The  intensity  of  his  indignation  at  the  crimes  of  in- 
tolerance, and  his  fervid  love  for  liberty  of  conscience, 
have  secured  for  him  the  fame — to  which  it  is  impossible 
to  concede  his  title — of  having  invented  toleration.  But 
for  him,  it  has  been  said,  the  religious  freedom  of  the 
nineteenth  century  would  still  have  been  but  the  dream 
of  Utopian  philosophers.  All  history  gives  the  lie  to 
such  a  notion.  Rousseau  himself  was  no  less  ardent 
an  advocate  of  religious  toleration,  however  incon- 
sistent his  theories  of  freedom,  as  propounded  in  his 
c  Contrat  Social,3  may  appear  with  the  whole  tenour  of 
his  life,  and  with  the  mould  that  he  impressed  upon 
the  French  Revolution,  which,  it  has  been  said,  c  he 
had  the  fatal  honour  of  forming  in  his  own  image  V 
Still  more  conspicuous  was  the  ardent  and  enlightened 
love  of  liberty  which  breathes  in  the  remarkable  speeches 
of  Mirabeau,  and  Rabaud-Saint-Etienne,  in  the  National 
Assembly,  who  denounced  the  crimes  and  misfortunes 
caused  by  a  State  religion,  and  demolished  the  sophisms 
opposed  to  liberty  of  worship.  These  words  of  Mira- 
beau might  serve  as  a  motto  for  the  Liberation  Society, 
c  I  do  not  come/  he  cried, c  to  preach  toleration.     The 

1  '  The  Church  and  the  French  Revolution/  by  E.  De  Pressense, 
D.D. 

L  2   . 


I48  THE    TEMPORAL    POWER  [CHAP. 

most  unlimited  liberty  of  religion  is,  in  my  eyes,  so 
sacred  a  right,  that  the  word  toleration,  which  tries  to 
express  it,  appears  to  me,  in  some  manner  itself  tyr- 
rannical,  since  the  existence  of  the  authority  which  has 
the  power  to  tolerate,  infringes  on  liberty  of  thought 
by  the  fact  that  it  does  tolerate,  and  that  thus  it  might 
have  the  power  not  to  tolerate.5  Before  we  award  to 
Voltaire  the  praise  of  having  invented  toleration,  we 
must  blot  out  the  memory  of  Scottish  Covenanters  and 
English  Puritans,  and  ignore  the  Holy  Experiment  of 
William  Penn.  In  spite  of  the  successful  attempt  of 
the  Bishop  of  London  to  insert  a  clause,  claiming 
security  to  the  National  Church,  in  the  charter  con- 
ferring those  wild  mountainous  tracts  which  Charles 
Stuart  christened  with  the  Quaker's  name,  Penn  in- 
scribed Religious  Liberty  at  the  head  of  his  consti- 
tution. Every  man,  he  said,  in  his  provinces  should 
enjoy  liberty  of  conscience. 

Surely  it  was  the  misfortune  of  France  that  her  great 
apostle  of  toleration  drew  his  inspiration  from  the  evils 
inseparable  from  the  fatal  union  of  civil  and  religious 
despotism.  The  Church  had  already  entered  the  arena 
wherein  the  great  battle  of  progress — of  humanity — 
was  to  be  fought.  To  every  aspiration  which  stirred 
the  pulse  of  awakening  Europe  it  opposed  the  obstacle 
of  invincible  intolerance.  No  wonder  that  the  liberal 
cause  was  proclaimed  to  be  antagonistic  to  religious 
faith.  The  greatest  crimes  of  history  had  been  perpe- 
trated in  the  name  of  that  holy  religion  against  which, 
in  terrible  earnestness,  an  emancipated  age  was  now 
in  arms. 

I  will  close  this  chapter  with  a  quotation  from  a 
work  to  which  frequent  reference  has  been  made.     A 


VIII.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  I49 

man  so  rare  among  his  species— in  whom  the  enthusi- 
asm of  humanity  was  a  real  passion,  is  thus  aptly  por- 
trayed : — c  Voltaire  was  pre-eminently  the  assailant  of 
Papal  Christianity, — the  distinctive  doctrines  of  the 
Roman  Church  were  those  upon  which  the  mighty 
mocker  was  most  lavish  of  his  scorn ;  the  crimes  and 
cruelties  of  the  Roman  Church  were  those  upon  which 
the  great  hater  of  oppression  poured  forth  his  intensest 
wrath.  The  supreme  horror  of  history  was  his  supreme 
horror;  he  shuddered  at  the  Bartholomew  business  as 
though  he  had  witnessed  it;  the  butchery  of  Thorn, 
which  in  a.d.  1724  had  stirred  his  youthful  indignation, 
he  remembered  fifty  years  after  in  extreme  old  age  with 
undiminished  abhorrence.  He  fiercely  denounced  and 
most  earnestly  strove  to  arrest  the  horrible  barbarities 
still  now  and  then  inflicted  in  France  in  the  name 
of  the  Roman  Church.  ...  It  was  mainly  the  deeds 
of  the  Roman  Church  which  made  him  mighty,  which 
breathed  into  his  imperial  scorn  its  sovereign  bitterness, 
and  its  awful  power.  .  .  .  Foes  of  Christianity  have 
sprung  up  in  Protestant  lands;  but  these  men  at  the 
most  gained  a  few  followers  and  gave  birth  to  a  con- 
troversy; while  the  arch-mocker  whom  France  bred 
and  whom  Rome  provoked,  became  a  great  power  and 
hastened  on  a  great  convulsion.  The  long  reign  of 
Voltaire  was  most  disastrous  to  the  Papacy;  and  his 
hand  was  felt  in  that  terrible  Revolution  which  so 
vengefully  smote  the  French  Church  and  the  Roman 
See  V 

1  '  The  Papal  Drama,'  by  Thomas  H.  Gill. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

When  the  storm  of  the  French  Revolution  burst 
over  the  Papal  States,  revolt  was  chronic,  and  received 
the  powerful  support  of  Napoleon,  who  readily  con- 
nived at  every  act  which  was  calculated  to  dismember 
the  ecclesiastical  territory,  or  to  cripple  the  power  of 
Austria,  hitherto  in  full  possession  of  the  dignity  and 
prestige  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire ;  occupying  the 
most  important  fortresses  in  the  States  of  the  Church, 
and  mistress  of  the  destinies  of  Italy. 

The  news  of  Napoleon's  approach  to  Rome  threw 
the  Council  of  the  Vatican  into  great  alarm.  The 
First  Consul  appears  to  have  revelled  in  his  power  of 
frightening  these  old  gentlemen.  He  wrote  in  harsh 
terms  threatening  to  crown  his  victories  by  the  over- 
throw of  the  Papal  power,  which  the  Directory  regarded 
as  the  irreconcilable  enemy  of  the  Republic.  cWe 
find  the  martyr's  crown  more  brilliant/  exclaimed  the 
Pontiff,  c  than  that  which  we  wear  on  our  head  -*  and 
with  something  like  dignity  he  refused  the  terms  of 
peace  offered  by  Napoleon,  which  included  the  with- 
drawing of  the  briefs  by  which  Pius  VI  had  condemned  the 
civil  constitution  of  the  clergy  of  France.  These  clauses 
Napoleon,  who  was  now  anxious  to  terminate  his  Italian 
campaign,  ultimately  withdrew.  A  shameless  peace 
was  purchased  by  the  surrender  of  the  Legations,  and 
the  renunciation  of  the  Pontiff's  pretended  rights  over 


THE    TEMPORAL   POWER   OF   THE  PAPACY,       151 

Avignon-  the  forfeiture  of  large  quantities  of  stores, 
and  a  war  contribution  of  six  million  dollars.  One 
hundred  of  the  richest  works  of  art,  the  contents  of  the 
galleries  which  Pius  VI  had  beautified  and  enriched, 
were  also  surrendered,  and  to  this  day  they  constitute 
the  greatest  wealth  of  the  Louvre ;  whilst  a  French 
army  took  possession  of  Rome. 

The  Directory  were  even  more  bent  than  was  the 
First  Consul  upon  the  overthrow  of  the  temporal  power 
of  the  Papacy.  Napoleon,  as  we  shall  presently  see, 
had  other  aims  in  view.  The  treaty  proved  only  a  truce. 
Pius  VI  not  only  refused  to  ratify  it,  but,  in  conjunc- 
tion with  the  forces  of  Austria,  engaged  in  open  hostili- 
ties with  France.  He  committed  himself  to  an  unequal 
struggle.  Napoleon,  who  had  just  vanquished  the  whole 
power  of  Austria,  contemptuously  crushed  the  feeble 
forces  of  the  Pope,  and  forced  him  to  accept,  in  the 
Peace  of  Tolentino,  terms  deeply  humiliating  to  the 
Roman  See.  The  city,  the  Patrimony,  and  Umbria, 
constituted  all  that  was  left  to  the  Church  of  that  fair 
domain  secured  to  her  by  the  Peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  • 
and  of  this  Napoleon  appears  to  have  thus  early  con- 
ceived the  idea  of  despoiling  her. 

The  Pope  had  passed  the  age  of  four-score  years  and, 
being  afflicted  with  a  dangerous  illness,  Napoleon 
generously  awaited  his  demise  before  proceeding  to 
establish  a  Republic  in  Rome,  on  the  same  model  as 
that  of  France.  His  calculations  were  disturbed  by 
the  unexpected  recovery  of  the  Pontiff.  Napoleon  was 
then  in  Egypt,  and  the  Directory,  supreme  in  France 
during  the  First  Consul's  absence,  dissatisfied  with  his 
Italian  policy,  and  irritated  by  the  intractable  Pontiff 
who  had  recovered  when  they  were  impatiently  await- 


152  THE   TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

ing  his  death,  ordered  General  Berthier  to  march  upon 
Rome.  The  Vatican  was  occupied  by  French  troops, 
and  Pius  VI  taken  prisoner.  The  old  man  entreated 
his  captors  to  let  him  die  where  he  was.  They  scorn- 
fully replied  that  he  could  die  anywhere,  and  proceeded 
to  plunder  the  room  in  which  he  was  seated,  and  his 
own  person,  taking  even  the  ring  from  his  finger.  The 
Roman  Republic  was  then  proclaimed.  Pius  was  at 
first  allowed  to  find  a  shelter  with  the  Grand  Duke  of 
Tuscany,  but  was  afterwards  carried  captive  into 
France,  where  he  died,  August  22,  a.d.  1799;  anc^  ^ie 
world  believed  that  the  Papacy  had  for  ever  fallen. 

The  Republican  government  at  Rome  was  short- 
lived. Within  one  month  after  the  death  of  the  Pope, 
the  King  of  Naples,  supported  by  the  English  and  the 
Austrians,  compelled  the  French  general  to  capitulate, 
and  Rome  was  garrisoned  by  Neapolitan  and  Austrian 
troops. 

After  some  delay,  the  cardinals,  being  unable  to 
meet  at  Rome,  assembled  at  Venice,  and  elected  a  new 
Pontiff,  who  took  the  title  of  Pius  VII.  The  sovereigns 
who  held  Rome  invited  him  to  take  up  his  abode  at  the 
Vatican,  but  he  declined  to  reside  there  in  any  other 
capacity  than  as  Rome's  rightful  and  sole  sovereign. 
Austria,  anxious  to  recover  her  lost  hold  upon  Italy, 
demurred  ;  a  compromise  was  at  last  effected,  and,  four 
months  after  his  election,  Pius  VII  entered  Rome  (July, 
a.d.  i  Hoo),  and  assumed  tne  government-  whilst  the  troops 
of  Austria  and  Naples  garrisoned  the  city.  The  elec- 
tion of  Pius  VII  was  due  to  the  influence  of  Cardinal 
Consalvi,  whom  he  immediately  nominated  Secretary 
of  State.  To  his  wise  and  temperate  administration, 
in  circumstances  of  unparalleled  difficulty,  the  Papacy 


IX.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  1 53 

was  indebted  for  internal  quietude  and  stability  and, 
after  the  downfall  of  Napoleon,  for  the  consideration  it 
received  at  the  hands  of  the  Protestant  courts. 

A  policy  of  conciliation  now  served  the  purposes  of 
Napoleon.  The  battle  of  Marengo  had  changed  the 
position  of  Austria  towards  the  Papacy,  and  had  re- 
established the  power  of  Napoleon  in  the  Peninsula, 
and  disposed  him  to  acquiesce,  for  the  present,  in  the 
continuance  of  the  Pontifical  government  at  Rome. 
Having  resolved  upon  the  restoration  of  a  national 
religion  in  France,  he  made  overtures  to  the  Pope  on 
the  subject.  Such  a  step,  in  the  moment  of  his  greatest 
triumph,  captivated  the  heart  of  the  Pontiff,  who  saw,  in 
the  restoration  of  the  Catholic  religion  in  France,  the 
renewed  subjection  of  that  country  to  ecclesiastical 
authority.  Never  doubting  that  Napoleon  was  a  sincere 
Catholic,  and  probably  ignorant  that,  just  a  year  before, 
the  young  hero  had  similarly  cajoled  the  Ulemas  of 
Egypt,  by  professing,  with  equal  complacency,  his  con- 
version to  Islamism,  Pius  VII  and  his  cardinals  rejoiced 
in  the  adhesion  of  the  great  conqueror  who  had  made 
himself  master  of  France,  and  France  mistress  of  Italy. 

By  Napoleon  religion  was  always  regarded  exclusively 
from  a  political  point  of  view,  and  employed  as  a  means 
of  attaching  its  votaries  to  himself.  Hence,  whilst  he 
was  yet  a  Republican  general,  he  praises  the  priests  in 
Italy,  who  served  his  purpose  by  advocating  the  estab- 
lishment of  Republics  in  the  Peninsula.  c  Such  priests,' 
he  says,  cwho  have  acknowledged  that  the  political 
code  of  the  Gospel  is  summed  up  in  the  liberty  and 
sovereignty  of  the  people,  are  the  finest  present  that 
heaven  can  make  a  government.'  After  events  proved 
that   it  was  not   their  republicanism  that    Napoleon 


154  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

loved,  so  much  as  their  docility.  Only  four  months 
after  he  had  employed  these  words  he  thus  wrote  to  the 
Bishop  of  Malta : — c  I  do  not  conceive  a  more  respect- 
able character,  nor  one  more  worthy  of  the  veneration 
of  men,  than  a  priest  who,  full  of  the  true  spirit  of  the 
Gospel,  is  persuaded  that  his  duties  require  him  to  render 
obedience  to  the  temporal  power •,  and  to  maintain  peace  in 
his  diocese.'  The  re-establishment  of  Catholicism  in 
France  was,  in  the  eyes  of  Napoleon,  a  purely  secular 
affair.  Let  him  be  judged  by  his  own  words.  In 
familiar  conversation,  towards  the  close  of  a.d.  1800,  the 
First  Consul  thus  spoke  : — c  The  people  must  have  a 
religion  j  this  religion  must  be  in  the  hands  of  the 
government.  Fifty  emigrant  bishops,  paid  by  England, 
to-day  lead  the  French  clergy.  We  must  destroy  their 
influence;  the  authority  of  the  Pope  is  necessary  for 
that.  He  dismisses  them,  or  makes  them  give  in  their 
resignation.  It  is  declared  that  the  Catholic  religion 
being  that  of  the  majority  of  the  French,  the  exercise  of 
it  ought  to  be  organized.  The  First  Consul  nominates 
a  hundred  bishops,  the  Pope  institutes  them ;  they 
nominate  the  parish  priests,  the  State  pays  them.  They 
take  the  oath.  The  priests  who  do  not  submit  are  trans- 
ported. It  will  be  said  I  am  a  Papist.  I  am  nothing.  I 
was  a  Mahomedan  in  Egypt ;  I  shall  be  a  Catholic  here, 
for  the  good  of  the  people.  I  do  not  believe  in  religions, 
but  in  the  idea  of  a  God  V 

The  negotiations  with  Rome  were  now  pressed  for- 
ward. c  I  ha*ve  need  of  the  Pope,'  said  the  First  Consul ; 
c  he  will  do  what  I  wish.'  c  You  wish,'  answered  La- 
fayette, to  whom  these  words  were  addressed — c  you 
wish  to  have  the  little  phial  broken  over  your  head.' 
1  '  Mcmoires  sur  le  Consulat,'  quoted  by  De  Pressense. 


IX.]  OF    THE   PAPACY.  155 

c  We  shall  see — we  shall  see/  replied  Napoleon.  The 
sagacious  courtier  had  gauged  the  true  origin  of  the 
Concordat.  The  man  who  aimed  at  despotic  power  in 
a  religious  country  could  not  afford  to  be  indifferent  to 
religion.  Whether  that  religion  were  Islamism,  or 
Roman  Catholicism,  was  a  matter  of  profound  indif- 
ference to  Napoleon.  But  he  recognized  the  fact  that 
France  was  Catholic  at  heart,  and  accordingly  resolved, 
by  a  wise  agreement  with  the  Holy  See,  to  consecrate 
his  civil  government  by  allying  it  with  religion,  and  to 
attach  to  his  person  the  whole  body  of  the  clergy.  c  We 
have  never  seen/  he  said,  ca  State  without  religion, 
without  worship,  without  priests.  Is  it  not  better  to 
organize  the  worship  and  to  discipline  the  priests,  than 
to  leave  things  as  they  are?  Rather  than  exile  the 
priests  who  preach  against  the  government,  is  it  not 
better  to  attach  them  to  one's  self?  A  Pope  is  neces- 
sary to  me,  but  a  Pope  who  brings  together  instead  of 
dividing,  who  conciliates  minds,  reunites  and  gives 
them  to  the  government  that  has  issued  from  the  Re- 
volution. And  for  that  there  is  necessary  to  me  a  true 
Pope — Catholic,  Apostolic,  and  Roman.'  Such  were 
the  views  with  which  Napoleon  entered  upon  the 
negotiations  for  the  Concordat.  It  would  be  easy  to 
multiply  quotations  from  the  recorded  words  of  the 
First  Consul1,  to  show  that  the  revival  of  religion 
was,  in  itself,  a  matter  of  perfect  indifference  to  him. 
His  central  thought  was  to  secure  a  functionary  clergy, 
as  an  engine  of  support  to  his  administration.  c  What 
we  are  doing,'  he  said,  whilst  the  negotiations  with 
Rome  were  still  pending,  c  is  inflicting  a  mortal  blow  on 
Popery.' 

1  See  '  Memoires  sur  le  Conseil  d'Etat,'  c.  xi. 


156  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

Into  the  history  of  these  negotiations  I  cannot  enter. 
The  Pope  and  his  counsellors  were  animated  by  the 
desire  of  securing  the  great  extension  of  the  spiritual 
power  which  the  Concordat  promised,  and  the  restora- 
tion of  the  temporal  power  of  the  Church  in  its  ancient 
limits,  for  which  they  trusted  to  the  gratitude  of  the 
First  Consul.  The  capital  of  the  Holy  See,  they 
reasoned, c  was  no  longer  in  proportion  to  the  provinces 
which  it  still  possessed.'  By  showing  himself  agreeable 
to  the  First  Consul,  the  Pope  might  hope  to  obtain 
from  his  benevolence,  either  the  principality  of  Sienna, 
or  the  restitution  of  the  Legations,  or  an  increase 
towards  the  Marches  of  Ancona;  cfor  it  is  the  First 
Consul  who  to-day  parcels  out  Italy.'  c  Let  us  conclude 
the  Concordat  which  he  desires,'  added  other  counsel- 
lors of  the  same  party;  cthey  will  know  when  it  shall 
be  ratified,  all  the  immensity  of  its  religious  importance, 
and  the  power  which  it  gives  to  Rome  over  the  epis- 
copacy in  all  the  world1.'  The  negotiations  had  not 
advanced  many  stages  when  these  sanguine  anticipa- 
tions were  discovered  to  be  illusions.  Napoleon  valued 
the  temporal  power  of  the  Pope  only  as  the  instrument 
of  perpetuating  his  dependence  upon  France;  and  as 
the  political  interests  of  the  Papacy  were  antagonistic 
to  those  of  France,  the  French  clergy  must  be  separated 
from  their  head,  subordinated  to  the  ruling  power  in 
Paris, — dominated,  watched  over,  incessantly  restrained 
by  it.'  Such  was  Napoleon's  notion  of  the  extension 
of  the  spiritual  and  temporal  power  of  the  Papacy,  as 
regarded  France. 

The  Concordat  was  signed  on  the  1 5th  July,  a. d.  1801. 
Whilst    recognizing    the    sovereignty   of  the   Roman 

]  De  Pressense,  '  The  Church  and  the  French  Revolution.' 


IX.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  1 57 

Pontiff  it  subordinated  his  authority  to  the  ruling  power 
in  Paris,  and  widened  the  breach  between  the  French 
clergy  and  the  head  of  Christendom.  The  political 
engagements  of  the  new  French  bishops  were  reduced 
to  a  simple  oath  of  fidelity  to  the  government,  to  whose 
approval  must  be  subjected  all  nominations  to  the  cures 
of  their  dioceses. 

The  independence  of  Rome  which  the  Gallican 
Church  thus  dearly  purchased  was  destructive  of  its 
liberties.  Its  servility  to  the  throne,  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  alone  rendered  possible  that  triumph  of  the 
League  in  France,  which  culminated  in  the  revocation 
of  the  Edict  of  Nantes.  The  emasculated  system 
retained  nothing  but  the  name  in  common  with  the 
Gallicanism  which,  in  the  fifteenth  century,  had  dared 
to  assert  the  independence  of  the  French  Church,  and 
to  set  limits  to,  and  exercise  control  over,  the  usurpa- 
tions of  the  Papacy.  Its  vaunted  liberties  were  now 
placed  beneath  the  foot  of  the  ruler  who  was  supreme 
in  spiritual  as  in  temporal  matters.  The  oppressive  and 
vexatious  intervention  of  the  temporal  power  in  spi- 
ritual interests  naturally  resulted  in  that  preponderance 
of  Ultramontanism  which  we  now  witness  in  France, 
so  long  distinguished  as  the  home  of  a  diametrically 
opposite  principle.  It  became  an  object  of  solicitude 
with  the  French  clergy  to  take  precautions  against  the 
usurpations  of  the  civil  power.  Their  spirit  of  opposi- 
tion to  the  Holy  See,  softened  by  the  dangers  which 
they  recognized  in  the  restriction  of  its  rights,  gradually 
disappeared ;  and  Napoleon  himself — prompted  by  his 
overbearing  animosity  to  the  bishops  who  had  rejected 
the  civil  constitution  of  the  French  clergy,  condemned 

by  the  court  of  Rome — compelled  the  Pope  to  scqucs- 

-£iEfcE   LIBR/, 

"  OFTHF 


I$H  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

trate  their  Sees.  By  a  single  stroke  of  his  pen,  Pius  VII 
deprived  of  their  dignity  thirty-seven  French  bishops 
who  had  refused  to  resign,  whilst  at  the  same  time  he 
abolished  all  the  episcopal  churches  for  ever,  and  erected 
ten  Metropolitan  Sees  and  fifty  Bishoprics 1.  A  proceed- 
ing so  arbitrary  and  unprecedented  justifies  the  charge 
of  the  absolute  and  despotic  power  which  the  Roman 
Pontiff  never  fails  to  exercise  when  unrestrained  by  fear. 

Napoleon  had  now  unintentionally  sacrificed  to  the 
interests  of  the  Papacy  the  ancient  constitution  of  the 
Church.  He  placed  the  French  episcopate  at  the  dis- 
posal of  the  Roman  Pontiff,  and  thus  furnished  one  of 
the  most  powerful  incentives  to  the  dissemination  of 
those  Ultramontane  principles  which  he  held  in  such 
intense  abhorrence.  c  A  thing  done,'  say  the  Italians, 
c  has  a  head ;'  and  it  was  in  vain  that  Napoleon  sought 
to  neutralize  this  radical  error  in  the  stringent  pro- 
visions of  the  Concordat  which,  in  effect,  confirmed 
and  perpetuated  it. 

It  was  to  the  negotiator  of  this  Concordat  that 
Napoleon  gave  his  celebrated  instruction,  c  Remember 
to  treat  the  Pope  as  though  he  had  200,000  men  at  his 
command.'  His  usual  penetration  had  preserved  him 
from  repeating  the  mistake  of  the  Directory  in  their 
dealings  with  Pius  VI,  and  convinced  him  that  civility, 
and  a  semblance  of  deference,  were  better  calculated  to 
promote  the  object  he  had  in  view,  than  vainglorious 
threats  of  spoliation  and  schism. 

The  gentle  and  conciliatory  Pontiff  interposed  few 

obstacles,  glad  to  maintain  even  a  nominal  possession 

of  his  principality,  and  to  win  back  again  to  the  faith 

the  infidel  nation  whose  apostacy,  during  eight  years, 

1  Dollinger. 


IX.]  OF    THE  PAPACY.  1 59 

had  made  her  as  formidable  a  foe  to  the  Church  as,  in 
the  days  of  her  subserviency,  she  had  proved  to  the  Pro- 
testants of  her  own  and  other  lands. 

In  the  autumn  of  a.d.  1804,  Napoleon  commenced  the 
preparations  for  the  important  solemnity  of  his  coro- 
nation. The  prescient  jest  of  General  Lafayette  was 
to  have  its  accomplishment,  and  the  c  little  phial '  to  be 
brought  into  requisition.  He  was  well  aware  that 
c  with  a  large  proportion  at  least  of  the  rural  population, 
the  consecration  of  his  authority  by  the  ceremony  of 
coronation  was  an  essential  particular,  and  that  to  all, 
of  whatever  latitude  of  opinion,  it  was  of  great  political 
importance  to  prove  that  his  influence  was  so  un- 
bounded, as  to  compel  the  head  of  the  Church  himself 
to  officiate  on  the  occasion.  The  Papal  benediction 
appeared  to  be  the  link  which  would  unite  the  revo- 
lutionary to  the  legitimate  regime,  and  cause  the 
faithful  to  forget  in  the  sacred  authority  with  which 
he  was  now  invested  the  violence  and  bloodshed  which 
had  paved  his  way  to  the  throne.  Napoleon  for  these 
reasons  had  long  resolved  not  only  that  he  should  be 
crowned  according  to  the  forms  of  the  French  monarchy, 
but  that  the  ceremony  should  be  performed  by  the  head 
of  Christendom  V  The  overtures  which  he  presented 
to  the  court  of  the  Vatican  abounded  with  a  profusion 
of  simulated  respect  for  the  successor  of  the  Apostles, 
and  with  vague  promises  of  benefits  which  should 
accrue  to  the  Papacy,  from  the  compliance  of  the 
supreme  Pontiff  with  the  solicitations  of  the  eldest  son 

1  Alison's  '  History  of  Europe,'  vol.  viii.  I  am  disposed,  how- 
ever, to  the  opinion  that  Sir  Archibald  Alison  errs  in  assuming 
that  Napoleon  ever  contemplated  receiving  the  crown  at  the 
hands  of  the  Pontiff. 


l6o  THE   TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

of  the  Church.  To  these  solicitations  Cardinal  Consalvi 
had  offered  all  the  opposition  in  his  power.  As  the 
representative  of  the  Pope  in  negotiating  the  Concordat, 
he  had  already  discovered  the  meanness  and  falsehood 
which,  in  the  character  of  Napoleon,  were  blended 
with  the  highest  genius.  When,  after  endless  debates, 
the  terms  of  the  Concordat  had  been  settled,  and 
Napoleon  had  consented  to  withdraw  the  Gallican 
doctrines  which  were  so  offensive  to  the  Papal  court, 
Consalvi  had  detected  an  attempted  fraud,  which  was 
only  too  characteristic  of  the  First  Consul.  At  the 
moment  when  he  was  about  to  sign,  the  cardinal  dis- 
covered that  Napoleon  had  artfully  substituted  a  docu- 
ment containing  the  obnoxious  clauses,  for  the  one  to 
which  he  had  agreed  \  It  is  not,  therefore,  surprising 
that  in  the  solicitations  of  Napoleon,  Consalvi  suspected 
a  covered  design  of  effecting  the  humiliation  of  the 
Pontiff.  But  the  Emperor  elect  was  now  too  powerful 
to  be  refused.  He  never  intended  to  receive  his  crown 
at  the  hands  of  the  Pope,  nor  was  he  allowed  to  officiate. 
With  his  own  hands  the  Emperor  placed  the  crown 
upon  his  head.  The  presence  of  the  Pontiff  only  was 
desired,  to  adorn  and  consecrate  the  ceremony,  and  to 
render  it  more  imposing.  The  relation  which  the 
Emperor  had  determined  that  the  Church  should  sustain 
to  the  Empire,  was  thus  shadowed  forth — probably  with 
design — that,  namely,  of  an  imposing  and  useful  but 
always  subordinate  appendage. 

The  ceremony  of  coronation  took  place  with  every 
possible  magnificence  on  the  2nd  December,  a.d.  1804. 
The  Papal  suite  shortly  afterwards  returned  to  Rome, 

1  'L'Eglise  Romaine  et  le  Premier  Empire,  1800-14.'  Par 
M.  le  Comte  D'Haussonville.     3  vols.  8vo.  Paris,  Levy,  1868. 


IX.]  OF    THE   PAPACY.  l6l 

charmed  with  their  visit,  and  sanguine,  with  the  con- 
fidence which  a  long-cherished  desire  too  often  inspires, 
as  to  the  full  realization  of  the  important  and  durable 
benefits  which  the  too  credulous  Pontiff  expected  to 
accrue  to  the  Papacy  from  his  condescension  in  cross- 
ing the  Alps  to  sanction  the  coronation  of  the  Emperor 
with  the  authority  of  the  Church.  Cardinal  Caprera, 
the  Papal  legate  at  Paris,  was  largely  responsible  for 
these  exaggerated  anticipations.  His  appointment  to 
this  post  had  been  insisted  on  by  Napoleon,  and 
M.  D'Haussonville  convincingly  shows  that  he  acted 
throughout  these  negotiations  rather  as  the  minister 
of  the  Emperor  than  of  the  Pope.  Misguided  by  his 
representations,  Pius  VII  was  confident  that,  at  the 
least,  the  three  Legations  ceded  by  the  Peace  of 
Tolentino  would  be  restored.  The  flattering  atten- 
tions which  he  had  received  from  the  Emperor,  who 
used  the  same  bait  which  had  inveigled  him  into  the 
Concordat — expressing  the  most  liberal  views,  but 
abstaining  from  any  definite  pledge — encouraged  these 
illusions. 

Amongst  the  able  statesmen  who  formed  the  Pope's 
cabinet,  not  a  few  were  doubtful  and  anxious.  Accord- 
ingly, and  shortly  after  his  return  to  Rome,  Pius  VII 
despatched  a  memorial  to  Napoleon,  recounting  the 
losses  which  the  Holy  See  had  sustained  in  the  late 
war,  and  strongly  urging  him  to  imitate  the  example  of 
Charlemagne,  and  restore  these  possessions.  It  is 
curious  to  note  the  fascination  wrought  upon  the 
Pontiff,  as  upon  all  who  personally  approached 
Napoleon ;  and  the  affection,  which  subsequent  events 
and  his  own  cruel  sufferings  failed  to  obliterate,  which 
Pius    thenceforward    entertained   towards   his   unscru- 

M 


l6l  THE   TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

pulous  oppressor.  The  evasive  reply  of  Napoleon  was 
followed,  within  a  year  from  the  date  of  his  coronation, 
by  the  forcible  seizure,  and  occupation  by  his  troops, 
of  the  most  important  fortress  in  the  ecclesiastical 
territory.  To  the  Pope's  expostulations  the  Emperor 
replied  in  disdainful  terms,  which,  indicating  the  prin- 
ciple upon  which  he  intended  to  act  with  regard  to  the 
temporal  power  of  the  Papacy,  speedily  destroyed  all 
illusions.  In  this  reply  Napoleon  asserted  that  all  Italy 
must  be  subject  to  his  law ;  that  the  Pope's  situation 
required  that  he  should  pay  the  Emperor  the  same 
respect  in  temporal  which  he  rendered  to  him  in 
spiritual  matters.  c  You,'  he  said,  c  are  sovereign  of 
Rome,  but  I  am  its  Emperor.'  To  Cardinal  Fesch,  the 
French  minister  at  Rome,  he  thus  wrote: — fTo  the 
Pope  I  am  Charlemagne,  because,  like  Charlemagne,  I 
unite  the  crown  of  France  to  that  of  the  Lombards,  and 
because  my  Empire  extends  to  the  boundaries  of  the 
East.  I  expect,  therefore,  that  his  conduct  towards  me 
should  be  regulated  upon  this  principle.  If  good 
conduct  is  maintained,  I  shall  not  change  the  outward 
appearance  of  things  ;  if  not,  I  shall  reduce  the  Pope  to 
be  only  Bishop  of  Rome.  In  truth,  nothing  can  be  so 
unreasonable  as  the  court  of  Rome  V 

For  two  centuries,  as  we  have  seen,  the  struggle 
between  the  Popedom  and  the  Empire  had  been  less 
for  supremacy  than  for  existence.  The  Holy  Roman 
Empire  had  fallen,  and  the  Popedom  seemed  to  be 
expiring,  when  by  the  new  Emperor  of  the  West  the 
old  struggle  for  supremacy  was  thus  haughtily  revived. 
The  days  were  now  past  when,  like  Hildebrand,  the 
Pontiff  could  imperiously  claim  the  submission  of  the 

1  D'Haussonville,  vol.  ii.  p.  78. 


IX.]  OF    THE  PAPACY,  J  63 

Emperor  on  the  ground  of  his  responsibility  for  the 
souls  of  all  men ;  and  the  self-constituted  heir  of 
Charlemagne,  aspiring  to  rule  all  Europe  from  Paris, 
was  little  likely  to  tolerate  any  independent  exercise 
of  the  secular  power  by  his  puppet  at  Rome.  The 
contest,  indeed,  was  at  an  end;  but  about  the  resig- 
nation of  the  Pontiff  there  was  a  dignity  which  con- 
trasted finely  with  the  coarse  threats,  littlenesses,  and 
treachery  to  which  Napoleon  was  ever  ready  to  stoop. 
In  a  despatch  to  his  Nuncio  at  Paris,  31st  of  July,  a.d. 
1806,  referring  to  the  Emperor's  threat  that  if  Rome 
and  the  States  of  the  Church  were  once  in  his  hands, 
they  would  never  come  out  of  them,  he  says: — cHis 
Majesty  may  easily  believe  this  and  persuade  himself  of 
it,  but  I  reply  frankly  that  if  his  Majesty  has  a  right  to 
be  confident  that  power  is  on  his  side,  I,  for  my  part, 
know  that  above  all  monarchs  there  reigns  a  God,  the 
avenger  of  justice  and  innocence,  before  whom  every 
human  power  must  bend/  His  course,  he  declares,  is 
irrevocable.  c  Nothing  can  change  it ;  neither  threats 
nor  the  execution  of  those  threats.'  These  sentiments, 
he  declares,  are  his  c  testament,'  which  he  is  willing  to 
sign  with  his  blood.  c  But/  he  adds,  after  instructing 
his  Nuncio  to  convey  them  to  Napoleon,  c  tell  the 
Emperor  he  still  has  my  affection,  and  that  I  have 
every  wish  to  give  him  every  proof  of  it  which  is  in  my 
power,  and  to  continue  to  show  myself  his  best  friend ; 
but  what  is  demanded  is  out  of  my  power  to  do  V 

Events  now  marched  rapidly.  On  the  1.0th  of 
January,  a.d.  1808,  Napoleon  wrote  thus  to  his  brother 
Joseph:— c  There  is  no  end  of  the  impertinences  of  the 
court  of  Rome ;  I  am  anxious  to  have  done  with  it.    I 

1  D'Haussonville. 
M   % 


164  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

have  dismissed  its  negotiators.  I  wish  you  to  assemble 
at  Terracina  a  column  of  2000  Neapolitan  troops, 
infantry  and  cavalry,  a  French  battalion  of  from  800 
to  900  men,  a  cavalry  regiment  of  400  men,  four 
Neapolitan  and  six  French  pieces  of  horse-artillery, 
which  will  make  3000  men  and  ten  pieces  of  cannon. 
You  will  do  all  this  quietly.  You  will  put  this  column 
under  the  orders  of  a  brigadier-general,  who  will  wait 
at  Terracina  for  orders  from  General  Miollis,,  under 
whose  command  the  column  is  to  be.  General  Miollis 
is  collecting  3000  men  at  Perugia,  and  General 
Lemarrois  as  many  at  Foligno.  With  these  6000  men 
Miollis  will  march  towards  Rome,  as  if  he  were  going 
to  rejoin  the  army  of  Naples.  When  he  has  reached 
Rome,  he  will  take  possession  of  the  Castle  of  St. 
Angelo,  and  assume  the  title  of  Commander-in-Chief 
of  the  troops  in  the  Papal  States,  and  he  will  send 
orders  to  your  division  at  Terracina  to  join  him  in 
Rome  as  soon  as  possible.  You  feel  that  this  expedi- 
tion must  be  kept  very  secret 1.' 

Rome  was  thus  beleaguered  with  a  force  of  9000 
men,  and  its  occupation,  though  delayed  a  whole  year, 
might  have  been  effected  at  any  time  without  fear  of 
opposition.  But  Napoleon,  having  thus  made  the  Pope 
to  feel  his  power,  was  willing  to  conciliate  the  Catholics 
of  France  by  a  show  of  forbearance.  Concessions  on  the 
part  of  the  Pontiff,  which  might  be  flaunted  in  the  eyes 
of  Christendom  as  the  voluntary  renunciation  of  unten- 
able claims,  would  have  been  of  far  greater  value  to  the 
Emperor  than  any  which  he  could  extort  at  the  point 
of  the   bayonet.     But    the    Pontiff  was   firm   in    his 

1  '  Napoleon's  Correspondence  with  King  Joseph,'  vol.  i.  No. 
350. 


IX.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  165 

irrevocable  decision  to  yield  nothing  but  to  force, 
which  he  was  powerless  to  repel.  His  one  answer  to 
every  overture  involving  the  concession  of  one  iota  of 
his  Pontifical  claims  being,  c  What  is  demanded  is  out 
of  my  power  to  do/ 

On  the  2nd  of  February,  a.d.  1809,  the  French  troops 
took  possession  of  Rome,  and,  within  three  months, 
a  formal  decree  proclaimed  that  the  territories  of  the 
Pope  were  united  to  the  French  Empire.  The  words 
of  this  decree,  revoking  c  the  donations  which  my  pre- 
decessors, the  Emperors  of  the  West,  have  made/ 
again  curiously  reveals  the  determination  of  Napoleon 
to  be  regarded  as  the  successor  of  the  Western  Roman 
Emperors.  Pius  protested,  but  in  vain;  and  though, 
either  from  generosity,  or  from  motives  of  policy, — 
for  the  Emperor  had  declared  that  the  Pope  who  should 
presume  to  denounce  him  to  Christendom  would  cease 
to  be  a  Pope  in  his  eyes, — Pius  VII  shrunk  from  pro- 
nouncing the  threatened  personal  excommunication  of 
the  Emperor,  he  issued  a  brief,  which  recounted  the 
penalties  to  be  pronounced  upon  those  who  presumed 
to  invade  the  possessions  of  the  Church.  But  the  Papal 
interdict  had  lost  its  terrors;  and  Napoleon  replied 
by  sanctioning  the  arrest  of  the  Pontiff. 

Thus,  just  one  thousand  years  after  the  establishment 
of  the  temporal  power  of  the  Popedom  by  Pepin  and 
Charlemagne,  France  was  the  instrument  of  despoiling 
the  Church  of  its  own  gifts.  Originally  the  price  of 
a  base  prostitution  of  religion,  they  had  wrought  in- 
calculable mischief  to  the  Church,  which,  for  their 
possession,  had  abnegated  her  office  as  a  teacher  and 
pattern  of  morality.  It  had  been  well  for  the  Church, 
fot  Italy,  and   for   Christendom,  had  the  allies,  after 


1 66    THE    TEMPORAL  POWER    OF   THE  PAPACY. 

Napoleon's  downfall,  been  less  blindly  determined  to 
reverse  his  acts  in  every  detail ;  and  if,  recognizing 
the  wisdom  at  least  of  his  Italian  policy,  they  had 
suffered  the  Italians  to  enjoy  that  freedom  from  the 
oppressions  of  ecclesiastical  rule  which  he  had  conferred 
upon  them. 


CHAPTER    X. 

It  was  from  Vienna,  in  the  spring  of  a.d.  1809,  that 
Napoleon  issued  his  decree  annexing  the  territories 
of  the  Pope  to  the  French  Empire,  c  by  virtue  of  his 
right  as  the  successor  of  Charlemagne.'  He  afterwards 
protested  that  he  was  not  privy  to  the  actual  seizure  of  the 
Pope ;  which  occurred,  perhaps,  sooner  than  he  intended, 
but  certainly  had  his  entire  approval.  Preparations  for 
the  arrest  of  the  Pontiff  were  made  with  sufficient 
secrecy  to  conceal  the  intention  from  the  people  of 
Rome.  At  three  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  1 6th 
of  July,  a  body  of  soldiers,  under  General  Radet,  scaled 
the  garden-wall  of  the  Vatican,  got  into  the  palace  by 
a  window,  broke  through  the  locked  doors  opposing 
their  advance,  disarmed  the  Swiss  guard,  and  so  made 
a  forcible  entrance  into  the  sleeping  chamber  of  the 
Pontiff.  Arousing  the  Pope  from  his  slumbers,  they 
demanded  from  him  a  categorical  declaration  that  he 
would  renounce  all  temporal  pretensions,  and  withdraw 
the  bull  of  anathema.  Pius  refused,  protesting  that 
he  would  rather  accept  the  worst  fate  in  store  for  him, 
than  sign  such  an  abdication;  whilst  he  threatened 
General  Radet  with  the  anathema  of  the  Church  if 
he  dared  lay  hands  on  the  successor  of  the  Apostles. 

The  General  appears  to  have  felt  very  little  concern 
about  these  obsolete  threats.  He  caused  the  Pope  to 
be  made  fast  in  the  arm-chair  in  which  he  was  seated, 


1 68  THE    TEMPORAL  POWER  CHAP. 

and  so  lowered  through  the  broken  window  into  the 
street,  where  a  close  carriage  was  in  waiting.  The 
prisoner,  with  Cardinal  Pacca,  who  was  allowed  to 
accompany  him,  was  placed  in  this  conveyance.  The 
horses  dashed  off  at  full  speed ;  and  whilst  the  citizens 
were  yet  asleep  in  their  beds,  the  cortege  passed  through 
the  gates  of  Rome. 

Napoleon  offered  the  Pope  the  appurtenances  of  a 
court  in  any  city  he  might  choose  in  the  south  of  France, 
with  a  revenue  of  two  million  francs ;  but  Pius  VII 
refused  to  hold  intercourse  with  one  under  the  ban. 
He  was,  accordingly,  removed  to  Savona,  on  the  shores 
of  the  Gulf  of  Genoa,  and  guarded  as  a  prisoner.  Here, 
through  the  medium  of  pamphlets  clandestinely  printed 
at  Lyons,  he  continued  to  assail  the  Emperor's  acts, 
and  particularly  his  divorce  from  Josephine.  To  put  an 
end  to  this  factious  opposition,  and  for  greater  security, 
Napoleon,  after  detaining  his  captive  three  years  at 
Savona,  caused  him  to  be  removed  to  Fontainebleau. 

Meanwhile,  the  Emperor  had  issued  a  decree  con- 
firming that  of  Vienna  of  the  2nd  April,  a.d.  1809,  and 
providing  for  the  government  of  the  States  of  the 
Church.  By  this  decree  Rome  was  declared  to  be  the 
second  city  of  the  French  Empire,  and  was  to  give  the 
title  of  King  to  the  Prince  Imperial.  It  was  also 
enacted  that  the  future  Emperors,  after  their  corona- 
tion at  Notre  Dame,  should  be  also  crowned  at  St. 
Peter's  at  Rome  \ 

According  to  his  own  acknowledgment,  the  object  of 

Napoleon,  in  despoiling  Pius  VII  of  his  dominions,  was 

to  effect  the  transfer  of  the  Papal  court  to  Paris — to  make 

it  a  French  and  Imperial  institution, — and  by  means  of 

1  Dyer's  '  Modern  Europe.' 


X.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  1 69 

an  ecclesiastical  puppet  and  his  Nuncios,  to  sway  the 
conscience  of  Europe,  as  effectively  as  he  already 
domineered  over  its  politics  through  generals  and  diplo- 
matists. He  thus  hoped  to  surmount  the  most  for- 
midable obstacles  which  impeded  the  accomplishment 
of  his  c  destined  career1.'  But  these  acts  of  the 
Emperor  redounded  to  the  advantage  of  his  victim, 
by  producing  a  reaction  of  respectful  devotion  to  the 
afflicted  head  of  the  Church.  Thus,  again,  we  see  the 
despot  who,  determined  to  bend  everything  to  his  own 
iron  will,  had  sought  to  supplant  the  Pope's  supremacy 
in  France,  preparing  public  opinion  for  the  revival  of 
Ultramontanism. 

Adversity  had  obliterated  the  amiable  tractability 
which  had  characterized  the  Pope  ten  years  earlier.  He 
was  aware  of  the  sympathy  which  was  extended  towards 
him  by  millions  who  hated  his  captor ;  whilst  such  of 
them  as  were  Catholics,  lamented  not  only  the  indig- 
nities to  which  the  Vicar  of  Christ  was  subjected,  but 
the  interference,  thence  arising,  with  the  ministrations 
of  religion  in  every  land.  His  own  sense  of  dignity 
and  duty  never  entirely  forsook  him.  The  blandish- 
ments and  threats  of  the  Emperor  were  alike  powerless 
to  induce  him  to  relinquish  his  Italian  possessions. 
The  rigorous  treatment  to  which  he  had  been  subjected 
at  Savona  was  relaxed  at  Fontainebleau ;  but  it  had 
produced  lamentable  effects,  both  mental  and  physical, 

1  '  What  I  have  hitherto  done  is  nothing,'  he  said  one  day  at 
the  camp  at  Boulogne.  '  There  will  never  be  peace  in  Europe 
except  under  one  chief — an  Emperor,  whose  officers  should  be 
kings ;  who  should  distribute  kingdoms  to  his  lieutenants,  making 
one  King  of  Italy,  another  King  of  Bavaria/  &c— '  Memoires  de 
Comte  Nicot  de  Melito.' 


I70  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

from  which  he  never  wholly  recovered.  Indications  are 
not  wanting  that  his  sufferings  had  weakened  the  in- 
tellect, as,  for  instance,  the  frequent  occupation  of  his 
time  in  darning  stockings1  j  but  pre-eminently  in  his 
falling  into  the  snare  of  the  Emperor  in  signing  the 
fatal  Concordat,  by  which  he  renounced  his  temporal 
power.  f  The  one  error,5  says  Cardinal  Wiseman,  c  of 
his  life  and  Pontificate.  For  there  came  to  him  men 
"of  the  seed  of  Aaron/3  who  could  not  be  expected 
to  mislead  him,  themselves  free  and  moving  in  the 
busiest  of  the  world,  who  showed  him,  through  the 
loopholes  of  his  prison,  that  world  from  which  he  was 
shut  out,  as  though  agitated  on  its  surface,  and  to  its 
lowest  depths,  through  his  unbendingness ;  the  Church 
torn  to  schism,  and  religion  weakened  to  destruction, 
from  what  they  termed  his  obstinacy.  He  who  had 
but  prayed  and  bent  his  neck  to  suffering,  was  made 
to  appear  in  his  own  eyes  a  harsh  and  cruel  master, 
who  would  rather  see  all  perish  than  lose  his  grasp 
on  unrelenting,  but  impotent,  jurisdiction.  He  yielded 
for  a  moment  of  conscientious  alarm,  he  consented, 
though  conditionally,  under  false  but  virtuous  im- 
pressions, to  the  terms  proposed  to  him  for  a  new 
Concordat  V 

The  Emperor  was  overjoyed  at  the  complete  success 

1  Perhaps  knitting  stockings, — an  occupation  for  charitable  pur- 
poses to  which  the  aged  of  both  sexes  are  much  addicted  in  Italy. 
As  recently  as  the  5th  of  May  last  the  Roman  correspondent  of 
the  Morning  Post  writes  : — '  Count  Gaetano  (a  brother  of  Pope 
Pius  IX)  is  an  old  bachelor,  and  very  charitable  to  the  poor  of 
his  native  town,  for  whom  he  passes  many  peaceful  hours  in  knit- 
ting stockings— an  innocent  amusement  now  getting  rather  out 
of  fashion,  but  still  practised  in  Italy.' 

2  '  The  Last  Four  Popes,'  by  Cardinal  Wiseman. 


X.]  OF   THE  PAPACY. 


of  this  coup-de-main.  c  Next  morning/  says  the  historian 
of  the  French  Revolution,  c  decorations,  presents,  and 
orders  were  profusely  scattered  among  the  chief  persons 
of  the  Pope's  household;  the  joyful  intelligence  was 
communicated  to  the  bishops.  Te  Deum  was  chanted 
in  all  the  churches  of  France,  all  the  restrictions  upon 
the  personal  freedom  of  the  Pope  were  removed ;  Mass 
was  allowed  to  be  freely  celebrated  in  the  palace  of 
Fontainebleau ;  a  numerous  body  of  cardinals  soon  after 
joined  his  Holiness  from  their  different  places  of  exile. 
The  Concordat  was  solemnly  published  as  one  of  the 
fundamental  laws  of  the  State,  the  Emperor  loaded  the 
Pope  and  all  the  members  of  his  court  with  that 
gracious  and  insinuating  kindness  which,  when  it  suited 
his  purposes,  he  could  so  well  assume ;  and  in  the  ex- 
uberance of  his  satisfaction,  even  gave  orders  for  the 
liberation  of  his  indomitable  antagonist, Cardinal  Pacca, 
from  his  long  and  painful  confinement  amidst  the  snows 
of  Savoy  V 

In  permitting  the  Pope  again  to  surround  himself 
with  his  cardinals,  Napoleon  had  not  calculated  the 
effect  which  the  support  of  their  presence  and  counsel 
would  inevitably  produce  upon  the  Pontiff.  Their  re- 
monstrances were  earnest  and  importunate;  and  the 
weak-minded  Pope  perceived  how  completely  he  had 
been  overreached  by  the  specious  arguments  and  clever 
artifices  of  the  Emperor.     With  bitter  remorse,  and 

'Tears  from  the  depth  of  some  divine  despair,' 

he  acknowledged  his  mistake.  But  it  was  too  late. 
Tears  and  imprecations  were  alike  without  effect  upon 
the  astute  and  exultant  Emperor. 

1  Alison's  '  Europe,'  vol.  xvkCec  77c 

(university) 


172  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

On  the  24th  of  March,  1813,  Pius  VII  solemnly 
retracted  his  signature  to  the  Concordat,  which  he 
declared  to  be  anulled,  ascribing  his  compliance  to 
the  weakness  of  the  flesh;  and  protesting  that  the 
concessions  made  were  unjustifiable  in  the  sight  of 
God  and  man.  The  Emperor,  not  deigning  to  notice 
the  recantation,  forthwith  published  the  Concordat  as 
the  law  of  the  Empire,  and  obligatory  upon  all  Arch- 
bishops, Bishops,  and  Chapters.  Pius  VII  was  soon 
avenged.  His  prolonged  captivity,  and  his  obstinate 
refusal  to  ratify  the  Concordat,  had  become  a  matter 
of  serious  embarrassment  to  Napoleon,  who,  after  the 
fatal  battle  of  Leipsic,  in  November,  T813,  determined 
to  assent  to  his  liberation.  Renewed  but  unsuccessful 
efforts  were  made  to  induce  the  Pontiff  to  purchase  his 
freedom  by  concessions  which  might  save  appearances. 
He  was  removed  from  Fontainebleau  to  the  south  of 
France ;  but,  under  one  pretext  or  another,  his  journey 
towards  Rome  was  impeded,  Napoleon  apparently 
cherishing  the  hope  that  a  return  of  fortune  to  his 
arms  might  enable  him  to  detain  so  valuable  and 
illustrious  a  prisoner.    . 

But  the  Emperor's  downfall  was  now  at  hand.  At 
that  very  Fontainebleau  where  he  had  cajoled  the  en- 
feebled Pontiff"  into  signing  the  fatal  Concordat,  the 
allied  powers  compelled  him  to  sign  his  own  abdica- 
tion. One  of  the  earliest  acts  of  the  provisional 
government  was  to  pass  a  decree  expressing  sympathy 
with  the  Pope,  and  charging  the  civil  and  military 
authorities  to  remove  every  obstruction  to  his  journey, 
and  to  accord  him  all  the  honours  due  to  his  rank. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  that,  whilst  three  of  the  four 
allied  powers  to  whom  Pius  VII  owed  his  freedom  were 


X.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  1 73 

non-Catholic,  it  was  to  these  three  Protestant  powers 
alone1  that  the  head  of  that  Church,  which  had  so 
often  strained  every  resource  to  effect  the  destruction 
of  Protestantism,  both  in  England  and  on  the  con- 
tinent of  Europe,  now  first  expressed  his  desire  of 
being  reinstated  not  simply  in  those  territories  which 
Napoleon  had,  by  his  Vienna  decree  of  April  2nd, 
a.d.  1 809,  annexed  to  the  French  Empire,  but  his  hope 
of  recovering  the  provinces  ceded  to  France  by  the 
Peace  of  Tolentino. 

As  a  steadfast  sufferer,  Pius  VII  received  the  sym- 
pathy and  respect  of  the  population  in  every  town 
through  which  he  passed.  On  approaching  Reggio,  the 
carriages  that  escorted  him  formed  a  long  line  of  pro- 
cession, followed  by  multitudes  of  horsemen  and  per- 
sons on  foot.  As  the  procession  entered  the  town, 
the  horses  were  removed  from  the  Pontifical  carriage, 
which  was  drawn  through  the  streets  amidst  the  en- 
thusiastic shouts  of  the  populace2.  His  return  to 
Rome  was,  in  fact,  a  grand  triumphal  progress  in 
which,  however,  the  demonstrations  of  joy  probably 
sprang  rather  from  a  sentiment  of  commiseration  on 
account  of  the  persecutions  which  the  Pontiff  had  en- 
dured, than  from  any  respect  for  the  tiara. 

Wearied  of  the  changes  and  tumults  of  the  Revolu- 
tion, there  was  a  general  disposition  amongst  the 
people  of  the  Roman  States  to  welcome  a  settled 
government,  albeit  not  one  of  the  people's  choice. 
The  conciliatory  disposition  of  the  Pope  had  been 
signally  evinced  at  an  embarrassing  interview  which 
he  had  held  with  Murat  at  Bologna.     In  the  discussion 

1  Ranke. 

2  Butt's  '  History  of  Italy,'  vol.  ii. 


174  THE    TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

which  then  took  place  on  the  subject  of  the  restoration 
of  the  Papal  territory,  the  wily  Murat  had  insisted  that 
the  desire  of  the  Romans  was  to  be  delivered  from  the 
temporal  sovereignty  of  the  Pope,  and  to  be  incorpo- 
rated with  one  of  the  secular  Italian  States;  and  he 
placed  in  the  Pontiff's  hands  a  petition,  numerously 
signed  by  the  inhabitants  of  Rome,  of  which  this  was 
the  prayer.  The  Pope,  perceiving  that  the  original 
signatures  were  attached  to  the  petition,  calmly  con- 
signed the  document  to  the  flames,  remarking  that  as 
he  wished  to  know  no  enemies  in  Rome,  he  would  not 
acquaint  himself  with  the  names  of  his  rebellious  sub- 
jects. The  report  of  this  generous  conduct  had  reached 
Rome  before  his  own  arrival,  and  won  the  hearts  of 
thousands,  and  of  not  a  few  even  of  those  who  had 
signed  the  petition.  The  return  of  Pius  VII  to  his 
capital  was  celebrated  by  demonstrations  of  tumultuous 
rejoicing,  the  nobles  fraternizing  with  the  citizens  and 
stimulating  their  mirth.  The  Duke  Borghese,  it  is 
said,  entertained  the  mob  at  a  banquet  which  cost  him 
^48,000 ! 

By  the  treaty  of  Vienna,  the  whole  of  the  Papal 
States,  with  the  exception  of  a  small  district  north 
of  the  Po,  were  restored  to  the  Church.  But  Pius  VII 
was  far  from  satisfied  with  the  simple  restoration  of  his 
Italian  crown.  He  demanded  from  the  allied  sove- 
reigns the  full  and  complete  restoration  of  the  former 
power  of  the  Church  ;  the  reconstitution  of  the  dissolved 
monasteries,  with  all  their  revenues;  and  the  re-estab- 
lishment of  the  bishops  with  their  lands  and  preroga- 
tives ;  c  Protestant  rulers,  especially,  to  yield  up  all  the 
ecclesiastical  lands  which  had  accrued  to  them  by  the 
treaties  of  the  last  thirty  years;  above  all,  France  to 


X.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  1  75 

give  back  the  principality  of  Avignon  and  the  Comte 
of  Veneissau  to  the  apostolic  throne,  or  incur  the  worst 
of  all  crimes,  the  crime  of  sacrilege/  The  princes  at 
Vienna  were,  however,  unwilling,  at  the  bidding  of  a 
Pope,  to  plunge  Europe  into  the  darkness  of  the  middle 
ages;  and  Pius,  with  a  solemn  protest  against  all 
arrangements  injurious  to  the  interests  of  the  Church, 
and  the  patrimony  of  St.  Peter,  eagerly  clutched  the 
prize  of  his  restored  sovereignty. 

Pius  VII  was  not  behind  the  other  minor  sovereigns 
who  recovered  their  paltry  crowns,  and  were  reinstated 
on  their  thrones  by  the  treaty  of  Vienna,  in  his  en- 
deavours to  obliterate  all  memory  of  French  domina- 
tion. In  the  pious  but  weak-minded  Pontiff  we  are 
not  surprised  at  any  intensity  of  hatred  towards  the 
ruler  who  had  been  the  spoliator  of  the  Church,  and 
his  own  unrelenting  persecutor.  But  it  is  well-nigh 
incredible  that  the  government  of  Rome  should  have  de- 
scended to  so  ignoble  a  manifestation  of  their  hatred  of 
the  French  nation  as  to  direct  that  the  public  clocks, — 
which  had  been  bestowed  on  the  city  during  the  French 
occupation,  and  marked  the  division  of  the  day  on 
the  system  prevalent  throughout  the  civilized  world, — 
should  have  their  dials  either  effaced  or  adapted  to  the 
effete  practice  of  former  days,  the  first  hour  commenc- 
ing at  nightfall,  and  so  on  until  sunset.  It  is  also  said 
that  the  authorities  proposed  to  abandon  the  practice 
of  lighting  the  streets  at  night,  because  it  had  been 
inaugurated  by  the  French.  An  edict  was  actually 
issued  to  suppress  the  public  lamps,  and  although  the 
endurance  of  the  citizens  was  not  tested  by  its  being 
suffered  to  remain  long  in  force,  it  did,  for  a  while, 
leave   them   dependent  for  the    illumination    of  their 


176  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

streets,  upon  torches  which  blazed  at  the  doors  of 
private  houses,  and  the  farthing  candles  burned  at  the 
images  of  saints.  These  freaks  are  illustrations  of  the 
petty  and  spiteful  hatred  which  had  their  counterpart 
in  Piedmont  where  Victor  Emanuel  I,  determined  to 
obliterate  even  the  memory  of  his  absence,  issued  a  pro- 
clamation on  the  day  after  his  return  to  Turin,  by  which 
all  the  laws  of  a.d.  1776  were  restored.  It  is  said  that 
a  court  almanac  of  a.d.  1795  was  handed  to  the  king, 
who  at  once  issued  a  warrant  reappointing  to  their 
former  offices  all  those  whose  names  appeared  in  its 
lists.  The  grim  monster,  Death,  had  not  forsaken 
Piedmont  during  the  king's  involuntary  absence,  and 
the  result  of  course  was  that  many  persons,  long 
since  in  their  graves,  were  reappointed  officers  of 
State ! 

Throughout  Italy  the  Code  Napoleon  was  superseded 
by  the  intricate  and  semi-barbarous  provisions  of  the 
German  laws.  The  taxes  imposed  by  the  French  were 
retained;  but  instead  of  being  partly  expended  in 
making  roads  and  other  useful  public  works,  in  pro- 
moting education  and  encouraging  manufactures,  the 
whole  found  its  way  to  Vienna.  Such  were  the 
c benefits'  the  people  derived  from  the  c deliverance' 
which  they  celebrated  with  unreasoning  enthusiasm. 
Nor  was  this  blind  hatred  of  Napoleon  peculiar  to 
the  petty  sovereigns  who,  after  his  downfall,  recovered 
their  thrones.  It  was  shared  equally  by  the  restorers. 
Though  by  nature  a  despot,  Napoleon  had  unwittingly 
conferred  a  priceless  boon  upon  the  Italians,  by  the  abo- 
lition of  the  temporal  sovereignty  of  the  Pope ;  by  the 
overthrow  of  the  Bourbon  despots  of  the  South,  and 
the  hated   Hapsburg  dynasty  in  the   North;  thus  de- 


X.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  1 77 

monstrating  to  Europe  that  the  Italians  were  capable 
of  self-government.  It  sufficed  that  he  had  done  this^. 
For  no  other  reason  was  the  political  Papacy  restored 
by  the  Protestant  powers  of  Europe,  and  the  Italians 
doomed  to  languish  for  another  half- century  under 
Papal,  Hapsburg,  and  Bourbon  misgovernment  and  op- 
pression. 

Europe  was  too  intently  occupied  in  the  attempt  to 
undo  the  work  of  the  revolution,  to  take  cognizance 
of  a  momentous  act  of  the  restored  Pontiff  destructive 
of  the  work  for  the  accomplishment  of  which  European 
statesmen  had  intrigued  and  toiled  for  half  a  century. 
Scarcely  was  Pius  VII  securely  seated  upon  his  Pon- 
tifical throne  when,  in  defiance  of  the  wishes  of  the 
lay  sovereigns  of  Europe,  he  published  a  bull  reviving 
the  order  of  the  Jesuits,  that  secret  militia  of  Rome 
which,  amid  all  the  vicissitudes  through  which  it  had 
passed  during  the  three  centuries  that  had  elapsed  since 
its  institution,  had  so  marvellously  fulfilled  the  design 
of  its  founder;  insinuating  its  principles,  and  influ- 
encing courts  and  peoples  by  a  hidden  omnipresence. 
The  order,  as  we  have  seen,  had  been  repressed  by 
Clement  XIV  in  1773.  It  is  curious  to  note  the  name 
of  D'Azeglio  in  the  roll  of  the  first  reception  of  novices 
which  took  place  at  Rome.  This  was  the  brother  of 
Massimo  D'Azeglio,  the  man  who  perhaps,  more  than 
any  contemporary  statesman,  contributed  by  his  writings 
and  his  extensive  influence  to  create  in  Italy  that 
mental  independence  and  civil  liberty  which  Jesuitism 
abhors, — that  atmosphere  of  free  thought  which  is  fatal 
to  its  existence.  But  it  must  be  said  that  the  Jesuit 
Marquis  was  as  imperfect  a  Jesuit  as  he  was  upright, 
liberal,  and  patriotic  as  a  man.      Insisting  upon  the 

N 


178  THE  TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAR. 

absolute  obedience  due  from  believers  to  the  head  of 
the  Church,  he  nevertheless  boldly  affirmed  that  when, 
as  sovereign  of  Rome,  the  Pope  addressed  his  subjects,, 
his  decrees  must  be  discussed  at  the  tribunal  of  public 
opinion-  and  be  examined  and  judged  by  the  law,, 
which  is  the  same  for  those  who  govern  and  those  who 
are  governed,  and  the  observance  of  which  constitutes 
the  common  justice  of  civilized  nations1. 

The  re-establishment  of  all  the  monastic  orders  fol- 
lowed, in  quick  succession,  the  revival  of  the  order  of 
the  Jesuits  j  and  the  Holy  Office  of  the  Inquisition  was 
resuscitated.  The  system  of  government  by  ecclesi- 
astics was  completely  restored,  and  the  spirit  of  freedom 
and  nationality  in  the  Papal  States,  as  throughout  Italy, 
was  crushed. 

The  territories  which  constituted  the  States  of  the 
Church  were  distributed  into  five  great  divisions ; — the 
District  of  Rome,  and  the  Four  Legations.  These  five 
divisions  were  subdivided  into  provinces ;  the  provinces 
again  into  governments;  and  the  governments  into 
communes.  In  the  District  of  Rome  were  included, 
besides  Rome  and  the  country  immediately  adjacent, 
three  provinces : — Viterbo,  Civita  Vecchia,  and  Orvieto. 
The  four  Legations  were  1 — 

I.  Romagna,  comprising  four  provinces : — Bologna, 
Ferrara,  Forli,  and  Ravenna. 

II.  The  Marches,  comprising  six  provinces : — Urbino 
and  Pesaro,  Macerata  with  Loreto,  Ancona,  Fermo, 
Ascoli,  and  Camerino. 

III.  Umbria,  comprising  three  provinces: — Perugia, 
Spoleto,  and  Rieti. 

1  See  '  The  Court  of  Rome  and  the  Gospel,'  by  the  Marquis 
Roberto  D'Azeglio. 


X.]  OF    THE  PAPACY,  1 79 

IV.  Marittima  and  Campagna,  comprising  three  pro- 
vinces:— Valletri,  Frosinone,  and  Benevento1. 

At  the  restoration  of  Pius  VII  the  whole  of  these 
districts  were  subject  to  his  despotic  sway,  and  were 
declared  to  be  the  inalienable  possessions  of  the  Papal 
See.  The  collapse  of  the  Holy  Roman  Empire,  and 
the  overthrow  of  Napoleon,  relieved  the  Papacy  of 
that  rivalry  of  the  secular  with  the  spiritual  govern- 
ment which,  during  a  period  of  eight  hundred  years, 
had  occasioned  so  many  vicissitudes  to  both.  There 
remained,  however,  the  power  of  Austria,  the  most 
abominable  despotism  in  Europe,  which,  by  the  arrange- 
ments of  the  treaty  of  Vienna,  had  acquired  increased 
influence  in  Italy.  With  the  extension  of  the  fatal 
grasp  of  Austrian  power  the  last  vestige  of  Italian 
policy  disappeared  from  the  States  of  the  Church. 
Upon  Austria  the  Papacy  now  leaned  for  support. 
Her  troops  were  indispensable  for  the  preservation  of 
order.  Her  intervention  was  sought  in  every  province 
in  which  the  flame  of  liberty  still  flickered.  The 
clerical  party  came  back  to  power,  her  avowed  instru- 
ments, pledged  to  maintain  the  maxims  and  the  insti- 
tutions of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  thus  to  plunge  Italy 
into  a  state  of  thraldom. 

I  have  said  that  Italian  policy  had  disappeared.  So 
also  had  the  policy  of  the  Popedom.  The  great  con- 
tests for  Papal  prerogatives  of  which  Christendom,  with 
bated  breath,  had  been  through  long  ages  the  interested 
spectator,  are  forgotten.  The  imperious  voice  of  Rome 
in  the  council-chambers  of  foreign  Courts  is  silent. 
Bullied  by  Austria,  the  feeble  Pontiff,  who  clutched 
more    convulsively   at    the    shadow    of  power   as   the 

1  '  The  Church  and  the  Churches,'  by  Dr.  Dollinger. 

N  1 


l8o  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

substance  eluded  his  grasp,  avouches  his  subserviency. 
How  are  the  mighty  fallen!     Had  Pius  VII  possessed 
the  daring  to  embrace  the  liberal  opinions  which  he 
was  powerless  to  smother,  he  might  now  have  assumed 
the  leadership  of  Italy  under  circumstances  more  favour- 
able than  ever  Roman  Pontiff  enjoyed.     We  can  only 
speculate  upon  the  later  glory  with  which  he  might  have 
surrounded  the  tiara.     But  he  failed  to  appreciate  the 
destinies  of  Italy ;  and  this  failure  precipitated  the  in- 
glorious and  rapid  decline  of  that  effete  system,  which, 
though  galvanized  into  new  life  by  the  will  of  the  Allied 
Sovereigns,  was  antagonistic  to  the  interests  of  Italy  and 
of  the  world.   c  Praise,'  said  Lord  Byron, c  is  the  reflection 
of  virtue.'    c  Gratitude,5  said  Seneca,  c  is  so  easy  a  virtue, 
that  the  sluggard  may  be  grateful  without  labour.'     But 
the  Papacy  had  established  no  claim  to  the  praise  or 
the  gratitude  of  Italy;  and  it  languished,  dishonoured 
and  unlamented. 

Pius  VII  quailed  before  that  cry  for  liberty  in  which, 
favoured  by  the  prevailing  public  opinion,  he  might 
have  firmly  rooted  the  power  and  enhanced  the  glory 
of  the  Roman  See.  The  opportunity  came,  and  went ; 
and  returned  no  more.  Sycophancy  to  Austria  was  his 
only  policy.  Doing  her  bidding,  he  sanctioned  poli- 
tical inquisitions  and  condemnations  which  deprived 
him  of  his  most  worthy  subjects.  And,  most  fatal  error 
of  all,  he  sanctioned  the  formation  of  a  political  sect 
in  support  of  his  tottering  power.  Lending  the  name 
of  religion  to  an  association,  unnatural,  irreligious, 
and  antinational,  this  act  proclaimed  the  utter  incom- 
patibility of  Papal  rule  with  the  true  happiness  and 
prosperity  of  Italy. 

Here  we  pause.     The  politico-religious  sects  which 


X.]  OF    THE   PAPACY.  l8l 

divided  Italy,  and  especially  the  States  of  the  Church, 
at  the  commencement  of  this  century,  were  the  natural 
outgrowth  of  the  system  of  terrorism  wherewith  the 
head  of  the  Roman  Church  vainly  sought  to  arrest  the 
rapid  decay  of  his  temporal  power.  For  a  short  account 
of  some  of  these  c  sects,"  and  their  influence  upon  the 
social  and  political  life  of  Italy,  the  reader  is  referred 
to  the  Appendix. 


CHAPTER    XL 

With  the  settlement  of  the  treaty  of  Vienna  and 
the  restoration  to  the  Roman  See,  under  Pius  VII,  of 
those  territories  of  which  Napoleon  had  despoiled  the 
Church,  my  allotted  task  is  completed.  It  is  my  pur- 
pose to  narrate  the  vicissitudes  of  the  Papacy  under 
the  eventful  Pontificate  of  Pius  IX  in  a  separate 
work,  which,  if  the  exigencies  of  a  busy  life  allow,  I 
hope  to  offer  to  the  public  at  no  very  distant  day.  I 
shall  here  confine  myself  to  a  brief  narration  of  those 
events  of  the  present  Pontificate,  issuing  in  that  large 
restriction  of  the  temporal  power  which  seems  to 
herald  its  speedy  abolition. 

The  Pontificates  immediately  preceding  that  of  Pius 
IX  were  amongst  the  most  unpopular  on  record.  The 
power  of  ecclesiastics  in  temporal  matters  was  infinitely 
greater  than  it  had  ever  been  before ;  the  spy  system 
was  increased  •  the  press  was  completely  gagged  •  feuds 
between  the  rival  sects  of  the  Sanfedists  and  the  Car- 
bonari disturbed  the  peace  of  every  town ;  political 
assassination  was  not  accounted  a  crime,  and  the  hands 
of  the  adherents  of  both  parties  had  been  freely  imbued 
in  blood :  but  the  former  sect,  instituted  in  aid  of  the 
government,  and  now  openly  allied  with  it,  was  tri- 
umphant. Every  man  who  was  suspected  of  Car- 
bonarism  was  dogged  day  and  night  by  the  police; 
evidence  against  such  was  collected  with  secrecy,  and, 


THE    TEMPORAL   POWER    OF   THE   PAPACY.        1 83 

<on  the  testimony  of  irresponsible  and  unknown  in- 
formers, hundreds  of  peaceable  and  inoffensive  citizens 
were  arrested  and  placed  in  irons.  The  prisons  afforded 
insufficient  accommodation;  convents,  and  even  pri- 
vate dwelling-houses,  were  rented  by  the  government 
to  receive  the  accused.  Abortive  conspiracies  con- 
tributed to  embitter  and  intensify  the  alienation  be- 
tween the  Popes  and  their  unwilling  subjects. 

Gregory  XIV  and  his  notorious  minister,  Bernetti, 
turned  a  deaf  ear  to  the  expostulations  and  advice  of 
the  Great  Powers  who,  after  the  suppression  of  the  in- 
surrection by  which  his  Pontificate  was  inaugurated, 
and  again  after  the  ill-fated  rising  at  Rimini,  urged 
upon  the  Pontifical  government  the  necessity  of  con- 
ceding the  reforms  which  it  had  been  the  object  of 
these  insurrections  to  secure.  A  chronic  condition  of 
revolution  was  only  held  in  check  by  the  threatening 
attitude  of  Austria  and  a  large  increase  in  the  Swiss 
mercenaries  in  the  pay  of  Rome.  But  the  disaffection 
of  the  people  was  complete.  Political  assassinations 
were  of  frequent  occurrence,  and,  by  a  necessary  con- 
sequence, the  governments  became  more  persecuting, 
espionage  more  prevalent,  and  the  political  sects  more 
bitter  in  their  mutual  antagonism.  By  means  of 
military  commissions  which  imprisoned  and  shot 
offenders  at  pleasure,  and  of  the  dreaded  tribunal  of 
the  Inquisition,  the  government  contrived  to  suppress 
revolt,  whilst  it  imbued  the  whole  population  with  the 
hatred  engendered  by  despair. 

Such  was  the  condition  of  things  when,  on  the  16th 
of  June,  1846,  Pius  IX  was  raised  to  the  Papal  throne. 
His  election  was  a  good  omen  for  Italy.  The  great  act 
of  grace  by  which  he  inaugurated  his  reign  sent  a  thrill 


184  THE    TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

of  joy  throughout  and  beyond  his  dominions,  for  the 
amnesty  restored  liberty  to  one-tenth  part  of  the  active 
population  of  the  Papal  States,  who  were  either  exiles 
or  languishing  in  the  Papal  dungeons. 

The  apparent  earnestness  and  sincerity  with  which 
Pius  IX  set  about  the  reform  of  abuses  won  the  hearts 
of  the  most  inveterate  haters  of  the  Papacy.  He  became 
the  idol  of  the  populace,  whose  adulations  were  so  ex- 
travagant that  wise  men  trembled  for  the  result,  and 
the  Pontiff  himself  counselled  moderation.  If  noble 
qualities  of  heart,  alone,  constituted  a  good  sovereign, 
undoubtedly  the  subjects  of  the  newly-elected  Pontiff 
were  singularly  blessed  in  their  ruler.  But  it  soon  be^ 
came  apparent  that  Pius  IX  was  bent  upon  converting 
the  infatuated  devotion  of  his  people  into  an  instru- 
ment for  securing  and  extending  the  prerogatives  of  a 
priestly  government.  For  a  while  the  Romans,  dis- 
appointed at  the  inactivity  of  the  government,  and  the 
weary  postponement  of  the  promised  reforms,  vented 
their  indignation  upon  the  ministers  of  the  Pope,  and 
refused  to  believe  in  the  unwillingness  of  the  popular 
idol  to  confer  that  full  freedom  which  they  deemed  con- 
sistent with  the  Papal  prerogatives. 

The  projected  Council  of  State,  in  which  the  Romans 
saw  the  germ  of  an  elective  and  representative  assembly, 
was  a  reform  of  the  Pontiff's  own  conception,  and  com- 
manded the  enthusiastic  commendation  of  the  people. 
But  when,  at  the  first  meeting  of  the  Consulta,  Pius  IX 
declared  that  his  purpose  in  convening  the  members  in 
a  permanent  Council  was  to  hear  their  opinions  c  when 
necessary,'  and  that  in  relation  to  these  he  c  should 
consult  his  conscience  and  confer  on  them  with  his 
ministers  of  the  Sacred  College ;'  when  he  denounced 


XI.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  1 85 

as  Utopian  the  views  of  those  who  saw  in  the  Council 
c  the  germ  of  an  institution  incompatible  with  the  Pon- 
tifical sovereignty/  the  confidence  of  the  multitude,  and 
of  those  especially  who  were  adverse  to  constitutional 
government,  was  rudely  shaken.  It  was  impossible 
that  what  the  Pope  offered  could  content  the  great  body 
of  the  people.  It  was  from  Rome  that  the  oft-repeated 
lesson  of  history  was  again  proclaimed  to  the  purblind 
despots  who  then,  as  now,  refused  to  perceive  that  the 
gift  of  a  sham  liberty  to  a  people  aroused  by  long  pri- 
vation to  demand  freedom,  is  a  more  dangerous  expe- 
dient than  undisguised  and  unmitigated  despotism. 

The  line  of  policy  pursued  by  the  Pope  in  the  war 
with  Austria  alienated  the  great  body  of  the  liberals, 
who  now  saw  in  Pius  IX  only  the  Priest-King,  jealous 
of  his  prerogatives,  and  willing,  for  their  retention,  to 
barter  the  freedom  of  Italy. 

From  this  period  the  faith  of  the  people  in  Pius  IX, 
as  the  renovator  of  Italy  and  the  reconciler  of  estranged 
factions  and  antagonistic  institutions,  declined,  and 
has  never  revived.  A  large  section  of  the  liberals, 
distinguished  by  the  appellation  of  Moderates,  did  in- 
deed still  profess  their  respect  for  the  Pontiff,  their 
faith  in  the  successful  working  of  the  constitution 
which  he  had  reluctantly  conceded,  and  their  preference 
for  the  established  order  of  things  to  the  Republican 
institutions  advocated  by  the  Giovine  Italia.  This  party 
was  of  great  numerical  strength,  and  embraced  many 
adherents  of  whose  names  Italy  is  still  justly  proud. 
They  adhered  to  the  Pontiff  with  a  tenacity  which  their 
more  ardent  compatriots  could  neither  comprehend  nor 
respect.  But  when,  at  last,  the  Pope  stood  revealed,  a 
traitor  to  Italian  freedom,  declaring  that  he  would  do 


1 86  THE   TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

nothing  for  Italy  which  would  injure  the  priesthood  or 
weaken  the  Popedom,  when  it  became  apparent  that 
the  realization  of  the  national  aspirations  had  but  one 
obstacle,  the  Papacy,  Pius  found  himself  deserted  by  the 
men  who  alone  possessed  sufficient  influence  with  the 
people  to  support  a  form  of  government  which  was 
utterly  detested.  It  is  noteworthy  that  this  severance 
between  the  Pope  and  his  subjects  was  coincident  with 
the  advent  to  power  of  that  remarkable  man  who,  for 
a  period  of  twenty  years,  has  been  the  true  Pope  of 
Rome,  Cardinal  Antonelli,  designated  by  his  country- 
men cil  Cardinale  Diavolo.3 

On  the  1 6th  of  September,  1848,  Pius  summoned  the 
distinguished,  but  unfortunate,  Count  Rossi  to  form  an 
administration.  To  a  Supreme  Pontiff,  as  to  ordinary 
mortals,  wisdom  often  comes  too  late.  Rossi  had  great 
claims  upon  the  respect,  the  gratitude,  and  the  con- 
fidence of  the  Italians ;  but  it  was  now  inevitable  that 
the  man  chosen  by  Pius  IX  for  such  an  office  should 
immediately  fall  under  popular  suspicion.  Rossi,  more- 
over, had  been  the  representative  of  monarchical  France 
at  the  Papal  Court,  and  the  intimate  friend  of  M. 
Guizot.  Such  credentials  rendered  his  name  odious 
to  the  Republicans.  Political  assassinations  were  now 
of  frequent  occurrence  at  Rome,  as  elsewhere,  and  were 
hardly  accounted  a  crime.  To  the  eternal  disgrace  of 
the  party  of  action,  as  they  were  termed, — composed  of 
the  dregs  of  the  volunteer  regiments,  whose  insubordi- 
nation in  war  had  proved  Austria's  best  ally,  and  who 
had  now  returned  to  their  dishonoured  homes  to  cause 
fresh  misery  in  Rome,  which  became  a  hotbed  of  sedi- 
tion and  tumult, — Rossi  fell  before  the  stiletto  of  an 
assassin.     This  foul  murder  was  honoured  with  festi- 


XI.]  OF   THE   PAPACY.  1 87 

vities  and  illuminations  throughout  and  beyond  the 
limits  of  the  Papal  States. 

Ten  days  later,  the  Pontiff,  terrified  by  the  threaten- 
ing attitude  of  the  multitude,,  quitted  Rome  in  disguise 
in  the  dead  of  night;  Antonelli  and  the  Bavarian 
Ambassador  alone  being  privy  to  his  purpose.  Pius  IX 
found  a  safe  and  a  hospitable  asylum  at  Gaeta.  In 
this  pleasant  retreat,  free  from  the  anxieties  and  cares 
of  government,  he  acquired,  it  is  said,  that  obesity  of 
person  which  has  since  characterized  him,  and  was  at 
leisure  to  fulminate  the  anathemas  of  the  Church 
against  the  authors  of  c  the  sacrilegious  and  miserable 
attempt'  to  establish  a  Republican  government  at  Rome. 

It  was  impossible  that  the  Catholic  powers  of  Europe 
could  acquiesce  in  the  permanent  establishment  of  a 
Republican  government  in  the  capital  of  Roman 
Catholic  Christendom.  Its  duration  was  only  a  ques- 
tion of  time,  dependent  upon  the  settlement  of  the 
rivalry  amongst  these  powers  for  the  honour  of  re- 
instating the  Pope  upon  his  throne.  Austria,  anxious 
to  re-establish  the  relations  broken  up  by  the  Italian 
war,  was  jealous  of  the  claims  of  France,  as  the  eldest 
son  of  the  Church,  to  prop  up  by  her  bayonets  the 
tottering  power  hated  by  every  Italian.  Antonelli, 
consistent  through  life  in  his  hostility  to  France,  in- 
clined to  accept  the  assistance  of  Austria,  and  stead- 
fastly opposed  the  overtures  of  the  Moderate  Liberals  in 
Rome  for  a  reconciliation  with  the  Pope.  In  vain 
they  urged  the  possibility  of  his  return  to  Rome 
with  dignity,  and  with  proper  securities  against 
the  risk  of  having  again  to  quit  his  capital.  In  vain 
they  pleaded  that  if  the  Pope  believed  it  essential  to 
his  dignity  to  return  to  Rome  with  3_sJaojv_of  force 

(universitt! 


1 88  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

that  should  strike  terror  into  the  hearts  of  the  anar- 
chists, he  should  seek  that  assistance  from  Italy  rather 
than  from  any  foreign  power,  and  that  Piedmont  was 
ready,  and  even  forward,  to  render  such  service  to  the 
Holy  See.  The  Holy  Father,  the  Servant  of  Servants, 
the  Vicar  of  the  Prince  of  Peace,  replied  that  c  nothing 
but  force  would  serve  to  restore  effectually  his  authority, 
spurned  as  it  had  been  by  a  most  audacious  faction.5 
And  Antonelli  was  resolved  that  that  force  should  be, 
if  not  Austrian,  at  least  not  Italian. 

On  the  7th  of  February,  1849,  a  consistory  of 
cardinals  was  held  at  Gaeta,  when  it  was  resolved 
that  Piedmont  should  be  struck  out  of  the  list  of  Ca- 
tholic powers  whose  aid  would  prove  acceptable  to  the 
Pope,  and  that  the  armed  assistance  of  Austria,  France, 
Spain,  and  Naples  should  be  immediately  solicited. 

The  Republicans  of  France  were  not  entirely  devoid 
of  sympathy  with  their  brethren  in  Rome.  They 
desired  that  the  Pope's  restoration  should  at  least  be 
preceded  by  a  manifesto,  promising  moderation,  if  not 
the  restoration  of  a  liberal  government.  Hence  arose 
prolonged  and  embarrassing  negotiations  at  Gaeta. 
But  the  great  aim  of  Louis  Napoleon  in  sanctioning  an 
interference  in  the  affairs  of  Rome,  was  to  secure  the 
instrumentality  of  France  in  the  restoration  of  the 
Pope,  and  thus  to  prevent  the  recovery  by  Austria  of 
her  former  prestige  in  Italy;  and  the  latter  power, 
however  reluctant  to  yield  her  hold  upon  Italy,  was 
fully  occupied  with  Venice  and  Hungary. 

Whilst  the  Court  at  Gaeta  was  wearied  with 
protracted  negotiations  and  diplomatic  wranglings, 
the  selfish  and  unpatriotic  squabblings  of  the  vain- 
glorious  sectarians  who  polluted  the  very  air  of  the 


XI.]  OF    THE   PAPACY.  1 89 

Tuscan  cities  unexpectedly  solved  the  difficulty,  and 
brought  upon  Italy  the  double  bane  of  riveting  the  hold 
of  Austria  upon  Tuscany,  and  opening  the  way  for  the 
French  occupation  of  the  Papal  States.  Leghorn  had 
become  the  refuge  of  all  the  Tuscan  adherents  of  the 
Republic  whose  love  of  tumult  inspired  them  to  resist 
the  restoration  of  the  constitutional  ruler  upon  which 
the  state  was  determined.  The  wild  excesses  of  these 
demagogues  were  more  serviceable  to  the  despotic 
governments  than  a  powerful  army.  Louis  Napoleon, 
anxious  to  get  into  Italy  without  the  danger  of  lighting 
up  a  European  war,  was  now  enabled  to  accomplish  his 
purpose.  Tuscany  was  surrendered  to  Austria,  whilst 
that  power  in  return  allowed  France  the  boast  of  that 
share  in  the  Catholic  crusade  upon  which  Louis 
Napoleon  had  set  his  heart.  The  consent  of  Anto- 
nelli  was  reluctantly  accorded ;  and  the  ground  of  his 
objection  is  indicated  in  an  anecdote  which  appears 
worthy  of  credence.  When  intelligence  of  the  sail  of 
the  French  expedition  reached  Gaeta,  Pius  IX,  who 
was  at  dinner  with  his  royal  hosts  and  some  cardinals, 
filled  his  glass  c  to  the  safe  arrival  of  our  friends/  c  Say 
rather,'  interposed  Antonelli,  c  of  our  masters!' 

On  the  24th  of  April  information  arrived  in  Rome 
that  the  French  government  had  despatched  an  arma- 
ment to  the  Roman  States.  On  the  following  day 
General  Oudinot  disembarked  his  troops  at  Civita 
Vecchia.  French  intervention,  long  threatened,  had 
now  become  an  accomplished  fact,  and  the  Italians 
soon  learned  the  true  objects  of  that  expedition  which 
M.  Drouyn  de  Lhuys  had  affirmed,  and  Oudinot  had 
reiterated,  was  projected  in  the  interests  of  Italy,  to 
facilitate  a  reconciliation  with  the  Pontiff,  the  only 


190  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

hope  to  the  Romans  of  avoiding  an  unconditional 
restoration. 

I  cannot  enter  here  into  the  story  of  the  two  months' 
siege  of  Rome,  which  I  hope  to  narrate  in  detail 
hereafter.  On  the  night  of  the  29th  of  June,  1849, 
the  French  troops  entered  Rome,  and  ten  months  later, 
April  the  12th,  1850,  Pius  IX  re-entered  his  capital, 
escorted  by  a  body  of  French  troops  under  Baraguay 
d'Hilliers  and  a  squadron  of  Neapolitan  cavalry. 
Flowers  were  strewn  in  the  pathway  of  the  Pontiff; 
banners  waved  over  his  head ;  but  the  accents  of 
triumph  were  uttered  in  a  foreign  tongue.  The' city 
wore  a  look  of  sullen  discontent,  but  the  military  at 
least  performed  their  allotted  part  with  an  enthusiasm 
which  was  well  calculated  to  inspire  dismay  in  the 
breasts  of  Republican  plotters.  An  attempt  to  fire 
the  Quirinal  on  the  very  night  of  the  Pope's  entry 
would  suggest  to  any  mind,  but  that  of  Mr.  Cochrane, 
that  the  ecclesiastical  government  which  was  thrust 
upon  the  Romans  at  the  point  of  French  bayonets  was 
as  hateful  to  the  people  as  when,  eighteen  months 
earlier,  they  had  celebrated  with  wild  enthusiasm  the 
flight  of  the  Pontiff  whose  rule  was  abhorred,  and  whose 
possession  of  a  temporal  principality  they  believed  to 
be  hurtful  to  the  interests  of  religion,  and  fatal  to  the 
freedom  and  prosperity  of  Italy. 

With  the  process  by  which  the  restoration  of  the 
Pontifical  government  was  established  we  are  not  here 
concerned.  France  had  recovered  her  lost  hold  upon 
Italy,  her  supremacy  at  Rome.  The  Popedom  had 
become  that  which  the  first  Napoleon  had  designed  to 
make  it — an  institution,  not  indeed  French  and  Im- 
perial, but  dependent  for  its  existence  upon  the  support 


XI.]  OF    THE  PAPACY.  191 

of  French  bayonets  •  the  least  intimation  or  rumour  of 
the  withdrawal  of  which  sends  at  once  dismay  into  the 
inmost  recesses  of  the  Vatican,  and  a  thrill  of  exultant 
hope  through  Italy. 

The  history  of  the  transformation  of  the  little  State 
of  Piedmont  into  the  Kingdom  of  Italy  is  too  familiar 
to  require  even  a  passing  notice.  It  is  well  known 
that  the  people  of  Central  and  Southern  Italy  had  no 
special  love  for  Piedmont,  but  the  aspiration  after 
Italian  unity  was  universal,  and  overbore  every  ob- 
stacle which  local  jealousies  interposed.  The  Emperor 
Napoleon's  scheme  for  a  kingdom  of  Central  Italy, 
though  appealing  to  the  municipal  jealousies  which 
have  so  long  proved  the  source  of  weakness  and  divi- 
sion to  Italy,  could  not  withstand  the  universal  passion. 
However  bitter  the  disappointment  throughout  Italy  at 
the  supposed  treachery  of  Napoleon  in  concluding  the 
inglorious  peace  of  Villa  Franca,  Italians  did  not  forget 
the  appeal  made  to  their  patriotism  in  the  Emperor's 
proclamation  when  the  glorious  victory  of  Magenta 
had  rescued  Milan  from  the  Croats.  That  proclama- 
tion concluded  with  these  words :  c  Animated  by  the 
sacred  fire  of  patriotism,  be  soldiers  to-day,  that  to- 
morrow you  may  become  the  free  citizens  of  a  great 
country !'  The  appeal  was  made  to  the  Italian  troops, 
but  it  awakened  a  responsive  echo  in  every  Italian 
heart.  The  transfer  of  the  crown  of  Lombardy  from 
Francis  Joseph  to  Victor  Emanuel ;  the  union  of  Tus- 
cany with  Piedmont,  after  the  second  flight  of  her 
Grand  Duke ;  the  brilliant  campaign  of  Garibaldi  in 
Sicily  j  the  complete  success  of  the  revolution,  under- 
taken and  accomplished  against  the  will  of  the  King 
and  of  Cavour  j   the  yet  more  brilliant  success  of  the 


192  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

quondam-Republican  general's  attack  upon  Naples  in 
the  teeth  of  the  remonstrances  of  Louis  Napoleon  and 
of  his  sovereign,  whom  he  desired  to  make  the  un- 
fettered monarch  of  a  free  and  united  Italy,  only  in- 
tensified the  longing  of  the  populations  of  the  States  of 
the  Church  to  become  participants  in  the  common  joy 
of  Italy. 

Louis  Napoleon  was  strongly  opposed  to  the  advance 
of  the  Piedmontese  army  beyond  the  Papal  frontiers. 
His  opposition,  however,  gave  way  when  it  became 
apparent  that  the  invincible  Garibaldi,  with  his  volun- 
teers, would  respect  no  Royal,  much  less  Imperial 
decrees ;  that  the  question  of  the  invasion  of  the  Papal 
States  was  already  decided,  and  that  which  alone  ad- 
mitted of  solution  was,  whether  the  invasion  should  be 
that  of  Napoleon's  ally  or  of  the  army  of  the  revolu- 
tion. c  The  invasion  of  the  Papal  States  by  a  Sardinian 
army,'  says  Mr.  Dicey1,  cwas  the  master-stroke  of 
Cavour's  political  genius.  It  had  become  imperatively 
necessary  to  stop  Garibaldi's  progress  to  restore  Sar- 
dinia to  the  position  of  leader  of  the  Italian  revolution.' 
The  advance  of  Garibaldi  to  Rome  would  have  added 
greatly  to  the  embarrassments  of  Napoleon's  position, 
and  not  less  so  to  that  of  Victor  Emanuel.  c  We  are 
forced  to  act,'  Cavour  wrote  to  Baron  Talleyrand  on  the 
10th  of  September,  i860.  cIf  we  are  not  at  Cattolica 
before  Garibaldi  we  are  lost ;  the  revolution  will  invade 
Central  Italy.'  On  the  29th  of  September  Ancona  was 
captured;  and,  the  heart  of  Italy  united  to  the  new 
Italian  kingdom,  Garibaldi,  addressing  the  population 
of  Naples  from  the  balcony  of  the  palace,  could  say, 
c  All  the  provinces  enslaved  by  the  Pope  are  free ! ' 
1  *  Life  of  Cavour.' 


XI.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  1 93 

There  is  something  touching  in  the  noble  patriotism 
which — unhurt  by  the  opprobrium  cast  upon  him  by 
diplomatists,  and  without  a  trace  of  jealousy  that  the 
honour  of  effecting  this  liberation  had  been  snatched 
from  his  hands — cordially  rejoiced  in  the  issue,  careless 
as  to  who  were  the  instruments  of  its  accomplishment, 
and  had  only  words  of  congratulation  and  eulogy  for  his 
c  brethren  of  the  Italian  army.5  c  The  valiant  soldiers 
of  the  North/  he  said,  c  have  passed  the  frontier  and 
are  on  Neapolitan  soil.  Soon  we  shall  have  the  good 
fortune  to  clasp  their  victorious  hands/ 

The  stereotyped  c  non  possumus '  of  Pius  IX  could  not 
avert  that  catastrophe  of  the  Papacy  which  made  Italy 
radiant  with  joy — the  formal  annexation  of  the  States 
of  the  Church  to  the  Italian  kingdom.  Italy  was  one, 
and  the  heart  of  the  nation  sent  up  a  triumphant  shout 
of  gratitude  to  heaven  for  the  deliverance  it  had 
granted  them.  It  was  impossible  but  that  the  fond 
dreams  of  an  exultant  and  impulsive  people  should  lead 
them  to  expect,  and  even  demand,  the  withdrawal  of 
the  French  troops  from  Rome,  as  the  last  and  necessary 
act  in  the  drama  of  liberation.  The  calamity  of  As- 
promonte  was  necessary  to  dissipate  these  illusions. 

Pius  IX  has  never  recognized  the  alienation  of  those 
States  which  now  constitute  a  part  of  the  kingdom  of 
Italy,  and  still  pleases  himself  with  an  annual  anathema 
of  the  c  Sub- Alpine  king/  But  the  obsolete  and  per- 
functory non  possumus  of  an  Italian  priest  is  powerless  to 
arrest  the  progress  of  events — the  march  of  Italian 
unity.  The  September  Convention  must  prove  equally 
futile.  Without  Rome,  unity  is  for  ever  menaced, 
liberty  jeopardized,  and  constitutional  government  pro- 
claimed incapable  for  the  task  of  working  out  Italy's 

o 


194  THE   TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

regeneration.  cTo  the  common  Italian  mind/  said 
Cavour,  c  the  idea  of  Italy  was  inseparable  from  that  of 
Rome.  An  Italy  of  which  Rome  was  not  the  capital 
would  be  no  Italy  for  the  Italian  people.  For  the  exist- 
ence^ then,  of  a  national  Italian  people,  the  possession  of 
Rome  as  a  capital  was  an  essential  condition' 

But  are  the  people  of  Rome  hostile  to  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Pope  ?    Are  they  for  Italy,  or  for  Pius  IX  ? 
It  is  the  question  of  questions  for  Italy.     That  to  a 
certain  extent  the  benign  and  good-natured  Pontiff  has 
recovered  the  popularity  which  he  enjoyed  before  his 
great  act  of  treason  to  Italy,  is  no  doubt  true.     But 
what  does   this   imply?     Most   assuredly  not  the  ac- 
quiescence of  the  Romans  in  the  perpetuation  of  Italy's 
humiliation,  or  in  the  priestly  government  to  which 
they  are  subject.     The  bourgeoisie  are  benefited  by  the 
maintenance  of  the  Papal  court  at  Rome  \  and  the 
appearance  of  the   Pope   in  public  is   attended  with 
acclamation ;   but  his  government  is  entirely  wanting 
in  all  the  attributes  of  popularity.     A  feeling  of  in- 
security pervades  all  classes.     Full  well  does  a  Roman 
know  that  a  careless  word  may  jeopardize  his  liberty, 
and  that  the  overcrowded  state  of  the  prisons  affords 
him   no   hope   of  an  unwillingly  accorded  immunity. 
The  characteristic  reply  of  Antonelli  to  the  official  who 

1  Such,  at  least,  is  the  prevailing  opinion.  But  it  is  impossible 
to  ignore  the  fact  that  immense  relief  would  be  afforded  to  the 
citizens  by  such  a  diminution  of  the  number  of  the  priesthood  as 
would  inevitably  result  from  the  acquisition  of  Rome  as  the 
capital  of  Italy.  In  a  population  of  170,000,  no  less  than  10,000 
human  drones  are  to-day  supported  out  of  the  common  funds. 
*  Every  sixteen  lay  citizens— men,  women,  and  children — support 
out  of  their  labour  a  priest  between  them.' — Dicey 's  '  Rome  in 
i860.' 


XI.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  1 95 

represented  to  him  this  difficulty, — c  Well,  we  have  the 
catacombs  left,' — has  dissipated  any  hope  based  upon 
such  a  foundation.  It  is  essential  to  the  liberty  and 
even  to  the  life  of  a  Roman  to  be  on  good  terms  with 
his  cure,  who  is  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  priestly  pre- 
tension to  hold  absolute  sway  over  the  intellect  and 
life  of  every  individual.  The  rigours  of  an  ecclesiasti- 
cal government  are  reserved  for  the  intelligent — for  the 
man  who  reads  and  thinks,  and  deports  himself  as  a 
man;  especially  for  such  as  presume  to  allow  their 
speculations  to  touch  the  sacred  domain  of  politics. 
But  politics  is  the  absorbing  passion  of  the  Roman.  He 
thus  finds  himself  at  war  with  a  government  between 
which  and  himself  there  can  be  no  sympathy. 

A  temporal  government  in  the  hands  of  ecclesiastics 
cannot  be  liberal,  while  its  despotism  is  so  petty  as  to 
expose  it  to  contempt,  so  exacting  as  to  constitute  it 
an  object  of  hatred  and  fear.  The  Pontifical  sovereignty 
is  an  antiquarian  relic  of  no  mean  interest,  and  in  the 
ages  that  are  gone,  and  with  which  have  perished 
systems  as  efFete  as  itself,  it  has  played  a  conspicuous 
and  important  part  in  the  drama  of  the  world's  history. 
Its  vitality  has  survived  its  use.  Its  continued  ex- 
istence is  only  pernicious  and,  its  chief  advocates  being 
witness,  is  incompatible  with  liberty  and  with  Italian 
unity.  At  the  accession  of  Pius  IX  the  Pontifical 
sovereignty  was  tolerated  by  a  people  who  had  not 
then  been  aroused  by  the  stirring  events  of  his  Ponti- 
ficate, and  who,  in  their  degradation,  preferred  the 
profits  accruing  to  the  guardians  of  a  museum  to  the 
noble  but  grave  responsibilities  of  a  free  nation.  Now 
all  Italy  re-echoes  the  words  which  Napoleon  haughtily 
addressed  to  Pius  VII,  c  The  ancient  Romans  conquered 

o  % 


lg6  THE   TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

the  world  by  their  arms ;  the  Popes  have  taken  advan- 
tage of  the  ignorance  of  nations,  and  Rome  still  holds 
the  sceptre  and  the  censer.  But  formerly  there  was, 
at  any  rate,  political  talent  and  intelligence,  but  now 
there  is  nothing  but  ignorance,  inactivity,  and  folly.' 

The  twenty  years'  struggle  which  the  Papacy,  as  a 
temporal  power,  has  waged  with  revolution,  has  pro- 
claimed its  defeat,  and  its  inability  under  a  mild  and 
benevolent  ruler  to  produce  those  fruits  of  love  and 
obedience,  of  contentedness  and  prosperity,  which  it 
is  the  incumbent  duty  of  a  government  to  secure  to 
the  governed.  It  has  created  only  mistrust  and  bitter- 
ness, and  has  proved  that  c  neither  can  cannon  destroy 
ideas,  nor  police  and  spies  eradicate  opinions  V  Every 
tittle  of  historical  evidence  bearing  on  the  subject 
proves  the  temporal  dominion  of  the  Papacy  destructive 
of  its  spiritual  interests.  Those  who  affirm  that  the 
maintenance  of  the  temporal  sovereignty  is  essential 
to  the  dignity  of  the  Holy  See,  and  to  the  interests 
of  Catholic  Europe,  would  do  well  to  recall  the  words 
of  Italy's  greatest  bard — 

'Say  thou  henceforward  that  the  Church  of  Rome, 
Confounding  in  itself  two  governments, 
Falls  in  the  mire  and  soils  itself  and  burden2.' 

To  affirm  the  essential  union  of  the  two  powers  it  is 
necessary  to  ignore  the  fact  that  for  seven  centuries 
of  the  Papacy  the  temporal  power,  however  coveted, 
eluded  the  grasp  of  the  Pontiffs,  and  that  until  the 
close  of  the  twelfth  century,  when  Innocent  III  ob- 
tained from  the  Emperor  a  formal  recognition  of  his 

1  Hemans'  '  Catholic  Italy.' 

2  Dante,  '  Purgatorio,'  xvi.  127-9. 


XI.]  OF   THE   PAPACY.  197 

claims  to  territorial  sovereignty,  the  Popes  could  not 
be  said  to  reign.  They  were  the  nominees  of  the 
German  Emperors,  who  levied  tribute  to  the  Imperial 
exchequer,  and  whose  effigy  was  stamped  upon  the 
Roman  coinage.  Nor  when  the  Popes  seized  upon 
the  Imperial  jurisdiction  was  it  from  any  alleged  con- 
cern for  the  interests  of  Christendom,  but  simply  the 
gratification  of  a  long-cherished  political  ambition, 
which  the  disorders  of  the  age  and  the  weakness  of 
the  Imperial  power  placed  within  their  reach.  The 
interests  of  Catholic  Europe  are  now  much  what  they 
were  in  the  twelfth  century,  and  the  attempt  to  justify 
the  union  of  the  two  powers  on  any  such  theory  is 
one  of  those  curiosities  of  ignorance  which  provoke  a 
smile. 


CHAPTER    XII. 

The  French  occupation  of  Rome  has  but  confirmed 
the  evils  of  a  government  which  was,  and  will  ever 
remain,  powerless  to  prolong  its  own  existence.  It 
has  at  the  same  time  thrown  vexatious  hindrances  in 
the  way  of  the  consolidation  of  that  union  after  which 
Italy  aspires,  and  has  robbed  France  of  the  gratitude 
of  a  powerful  and  impassioned  nation — her  natural 
ally — numbering  24,000,000  souls.  Italy  is  charged 
with  ingratitude  towards  the  man  who  made  her  a 
nation  •  but  granting  that  French  arms  won  Lombardy 
from  the  Croats,  Italians  may  well  disavow  all  pretence 
of  gratitude  for  the  attempted  subversion  of  their 
country's  destiny,  in  order  to  the  fulfilment  of  the 
Napoleonic  dream  of  an  Italian  federation,  so  arranged 
as  to  convert  the  Holy  See  into  a  French  bishopric. 
In  spite  of  Papal  denunciations  and  French  rebuffs, 
the  cry,  Italia  una  !  still  rises  above  the  din  of  diplo- 
matic wrangling ;  and  hatred  of  the  French  ruler  who, 
unthanked  by  the  Pope  and  execrated  by  the  nation, 
persists  in  propping  up  the  tottering  power  of  Rome, 
is  the  universal  sentiment  of  Italy. 

France  still  defends  against  all  comers  the  temporal 
power  of  the  Roman  Pontiff,  which  she  re-established ; 
but  the  day  that  her  protection  is  withdrawn  the  Pon- 
tifical sovereignty  will  expire.  That  this  will  favour 
the  spiritual  interests  of  the  Papacy,  it  is  impossible 


THE   TEMPORAL  POWER   OF   THE  PAPACY,         1 99 

to  question.  It  was  when  the  Roman  Church  had  her 
spiritual  interests  alone  to  look  after,  that  she  placed 
those  interests  always  in  the  ascendant,  and  established 
her  supremacy  throughout  Europe.  As  the  things  of 
earth  yield  their  present  precedence  over  the  things 
of  heaven,  the  spiritual  power  of  the  Papacy,  now 
shaken  to  its  foundations,  will  doubtless  acquire  new 
vitality.  The  religion  of  Rome,  now  tolerated  in  the 
land  of  its  birth,  and  of  its  most  fanatical  ascendency, 
will  recover  the  hold  which  it  is  losing  upon  the  hearts 
and  consciences  of  men ;  and  the  Papacy  may  again 
enjoy  that  dignified  calm  which  centuries  of  vain  am- 
bition, and  of  undignified  effort  to  maintain  a  false 
position  by  the  basest  subserviency  to  France  or  Austria, 
have  forfeited.  Rome  must  learn  the  lesson,  that  if 
the  temporal  prerogatives  to  which  she  so  tenaciously 
clings  cannot  make,  they  most  assuredly  can  destroy 
a  Church ;  whilst  that  which  alone  can  truly  establish 
or  render  it  durable  against  all  the  attacks  of  time,  or 
of  earthly  foes,  is  the  Truth  which  that  Church  con- 
tains, its  fidelity  to  that  truth,  and  its  zeal  in  propa- 
gating it  in  all  its  native  purity. 

All  history  testifies  to  the  fact  that  the  temporal 
sovereignty  of  the  Pope  makes  him  in  reality  the  most 
dependent  man  in  Europe.  Out  of  limited  resources 
he  is  compelled  to  maintain  the  dignity  of  a  sovereignty 
which  the  world  is  expected  to  recognize  as  the  most 
august  in  the  universe  !  He  is  thus  constrained  to  fall 
back  upon  foreign  armaments  for  the  police  of  his  terri- 
tory, and  at  once  to  insult  the  national  sentiment,  and 
to  place  the  spiritual  no  less  than  the  temporal  power 
which  he  wields,  in  the  hands  of  a  foreign  potentate. 
Meanwhile,   the    increase    of   the    Papal    troops,   the 


200  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

cannon  which  are  being  accumulated  in  Rome,  and 
the  fortifications  that  are  constructed  out  of  all  pro- 
portion to  financial  means  and  to  political  necessities, 
and  in  direct  contravention  of  the  September  Conven- 
tion, indicate  an  intention  on  the  part  of  the  Pontifical 
government  of  making  due  preparation  for  contin- 
gencies that  are  foreseen,  but  with  which  the  power 
which  we  instinctively  feel  to  be  the  most  glaring 
political  solecism  of  the  nineteenth  century,  will  as- 
suredly be  powerless  to  cope.  Coincident  with  this  we 
have  recently  witnessed  the  assembling  of  a  so-called 
(Ecumenical  Council,  convened  to  define  the  dogma  of 
the  personal  infallibility  of  the  Roman  Pontiff;  in  other 
words,  to  declare  him  the  privileged  representative  of 
the  Divine  will,  of  a  nature  superior  to  our  common 
humanity,  possessed  of  truth  absolute  and  complete. 

The  revival  of  these  inordinate  pretensions  of  the 
Papacy  will  but  bring  new  conviction  to  the  minds 
of  Italians  of  the  incompatibility  of  the  temporal  and 
spiritual  powers,  and  of  the  tremendous  peril  to  Italy 
involved  in  the  recognition  of  their  union  in  the  person 
of  a  priest  enthroned  in  the  Vatican, — the  puppet  of 
a  foreign  and,  of  necessity,  hostile  power. 

Sooner  or  later  this  fanatical  and  tenacious  grasp  of 
the  temporal  power  must  condemn  the  Papacy  to  the 
humiliations  and  calamities  which  it  suffered  at  the 
hands  of  the  first  Napoleon.  It  renders  it  at  once 
indispensable  and  impossible  that  the  supreme  head  of 
the  Church  should  observe  strict  neutrality  in  those 
political  complications,  into  which  he  cannot  throw 
himself  without  imperilling  his  spiritual  authority,  and 
abandoning  the  claim  to  a  universal  charity,  covering 
with   its   wings   the  whole   of  Christendom.     But  as 


XII.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  SO  I 

a  temporal  prince  the  Roman  Pontiff  cannot,  even  with 
his  present  shred  of  territory,  escape  the  contingencies 
and  responsibilities  of  his  position.  As  in  a.d.  1806,  it 
will  again  prove  the  vulnerable  point  which  will  en- 
danger the  very  existence  of  the  Papacy  in  its  ancient 
seat.  Napoleon,  always  ready  to  adapt  his  arguments 
to  the  exigencies  of  his  political  ambition,  thus  aptly 
expressed  the  radical  defect  of  the  Papal  pretensions : — 
c  Jesus  Christ,  born  of  the  blood  of  David,  never  would 
be  king.  For  centuries  the  founders  of  our  religion 
were  never  kings.  There  is  not  a  single  doctor  or 
faithful  historian  who  has  not  admitted  that  temporal 
power  has  been  fatal  to  religion.  The  Pope,  as  head 
of  Christianity,  ought  to  have  an  equal  influence  all 
over  the  world;  nevertheless  this  influence  ought  to 
vary  according  to  the  political  circumstances  of  States. 
No  personal  interest  ought  to  impede  spiritual  affairs ; 
and  yet  how  could  it  be  otherwise  when  the  interests 
of  the  Pope  as  sovereign  and  those  of  the  Pope  as 
pontiff  are  contrary  ?  a  My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world" 
said  Jesus  Christ,  and  by  this  doctrine  he  for  ever  con- 
demned the  mixture  of  religious  interests  with  worldly 
affections.'  The  Emperor's  reasoning  was  admirable ! 
But  it  was  the  possession  of  a  temporal  sovereignty 
which  presently  placed  Pius  VII  in  the  power  of  Napo- 
leon, who  was  not  slow  to  discover  new  arguments, 
sufficiently  convincing  for  his  purpose,  showing  the 
necessity  for  its  being  respected. 

That  Pius  IX  and  his  ministers  will  not  read  the 
plain  lessons  of  history  furnishes  only  a  new  illustration 
of  the  familiar  proverb,  c gj/em  Deus  vult  perdere  prius 
dementat?  The  famous  and  emphatic  c  never'  of  M. 
Rouher  may  but  veil  the  intentions  of  his  Imperial 


UNIVERSITY 


202  THE    TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

master.  c  Italy  shall  never  go  to  Rome;'  the  Gari- 
baldians  c  never '  insult  the  throne  of  the  holy  Father. 
So  said  the  now  discredited  minister  of  Napoleon  III. 
The  Pope,  then,  is  deposed,  and  France  rules  in  Rome 
as  Austria  ruled  in  '48.  It  is  not  the  Italians  who 
depose  him  of  the  authority  which  rests  exclusively  upon 
French  chassepots.  The  Italians  wish  but  to  regulate, 
in  conformity  with  the  interests  of  a  great  nation  and 
of  advancing  civilization,  a  deposition  already  accom- 
plished j  and  maintain  with  reason  that  the  Pope  can 
never  be  more  subject  to  foreign  pressure  than  he  is  at 
this  moment 1.  Public  indignation  is  excited  in  France 
at  the  clerical  policy  of  Rome,  and  however  determined 
the  Emperor  or  his  quondam  minister  may  be  that  the 
Revolution  shall  not  triumph,  the  former  at  least, 
whilst  yielding  to  popular  pressure  at  home,  is  not 
likely  permanently  to  place  himself  in  conflict  with  all 
that  is  intelligent  and  living  in  Europe,  all  that  is 
earnest  and  true  in  France,  by  constituting  her  the 
guard  and  bailiff  of  a  Pope  who  answers  his  advice 
with  haughty  surprise,  and  maintains  towards  him  an 
attitude  of  studied  neglect. 

It  may  be  that  the  Emperor  is  willing  to  let  the 
court  of  Rome  so  compromise  itself  towards  Italy,  and 
discredit  itself  before  Europe,  as  to  hasten  the  termina- 
tion of  an  intervention  which  has  been  the  cause  of 
much  embarrassment,  and  that  the  pretentious  assump- 
tions and  fanatical  decrees  of  the  so-called  (Ecumenical 
Council  may  herald  the  fulfilment,  in  regard  to  the 
Papacy  itself,  of  the  prediction  of  Holy  Writ,  c  A  stone 
was  cut  out  without  hands,  which  smote  the  image  upon 

1  See  Taine's  '  Italy — Naples  and  Rome.' 


XII.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  203 

his  feet  that  were  of  iron  and  clay,  and  brake  them  to 
pieces/ 

But  it  must  be  acknowledged  that  the  signs  of  the 
times  point  in  quite  another  direction.  Every  attempt 
which  has  been  made  to  reconcile  Rome  with  modern 
progress,  whether  in  religion,  in  politics,  or  in  science, 
has  encountered  the  uncompromising  hostility  of  the 
pretentious  theocracy  which  recognizes  no  note  of 
harmony,  no  point  of  agreement,  between  modern 
civilization  and  historic  Christianity.  The  following 
travesty  of  Liberalism  appeared  in  a  recent  issue  of  the 
Civilta  Cattolica^  which  the  Pope,  by  special  decree,  has 
appointed  official  journal  to  the  Church: — cAs  the 
Church  teaches  that  God  created  man,  the  Liberals 
will  not  believe  it,  and  maintain  they  descend  from 
apes.  They  have  chosen  that  animal  for  their  pro- 
genitor because  Satan,  the  first  conspirator,  the  first 
revolutionary,  and  the  first  Liberal  that  ever  lived,  was 
the  ape  of  the  Deity.  Further,  they  have  observed  that, 
as  the  ape  is  notoriously  impudent,  malicious,  and 
above  all  prone  to  theft,  he  possesses  the  same  qualities 
as  themselves.  The  Liberals  are  the  apes  of  the  Church 
and  of  God,  and  follow  in  that  the  example  of  the 
devil,  their  lord  and  master.  From  this  come  their 
hatred  and  animosity  to  the  Church.  Does  the  Pope 
summon  an  (Ecumenical  Council  at  Rome?  The 
Liberals  propose  at  Naples  an  assembly  of  free-thinkers. 
In  short,  Liberalism  is  only  a  grand  piece  of  aping/ 
Whilst  Liberalism  is  thus  traduced,  science  is  pro- 
scribed as  the  insurrection  of  godless  intellect  against 
the  Bible,  and  constitutional  government  as  the  last 
lure  of  Satan  whereby  nations  are  tempted  to  their 
ruin.     And  so  great,  even  in  its  senility,  is  the  in- 


204  THE    TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

fluence  of  the  Papal  See  in  the  Roman  Catholic  world, 
that  it  appears  strengthened  rather  than  jeopardized  by  its 
intolerant  presumption,  never  more  dangerous  than 
when  the  central  power  is  weak,  nor  more  aggressive 
than  when  it  has  lost  all  strength  but  in  the  credulity 
and  infatuation  of  zealots.  To  a  dreamy  imagination, 
whether  that  of  a  marquis,  a  curate,  or  a  sentimental 
belle,  the  mysticism  of  Rome  offers  a  natural  aliment ; 
her  intolerance  and  presumption  are  but  evidences  of 
her  Divine  authority.  It  is  hardly  surprising  that,  even 
in  Protestant  communities,  dreamy  and  restless  spirits 
occasionally  c  take  refuge  from  their  own  scepticism  in 
the  bosom  of  a  Church  which  pretends  to  infallibility, 
and,  after  questioning  the  existence  of  a  Deity,  bring 
themselves  to  worship  a  wafer  V  This  principle  of 
authority  once  admitted,  the  power  of  the  Church  can 
be  jeopardized  by  no  presumptions,  however  intolerant 
and  absurd.  Hence  we  see  the  finest  intellects,  the 
learned  and  most  truly  honest  divines  of  the  Roman 
Church,  however  lively  and  often  painful  the  interest 
with  which  they  receive  every  novelty  coming  from 
Rome,  take  meekly  the  rebuke  which  their  liberal 
tendencies  draw  down,  and  with  humble  submission 
to  Mother  Church,  continue  to  throw  their  energies 
into  the  Papal  cause.  A  signal  illustration  of  this 
phenomenon  is  furnished  in  the  painful  position  of  an 
English  divine — one  of  the  brightest  ornaments  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church  in  these  or  any  other  realms. 
Dr.  Newman,  a  theologian  as  conspicuous  for  refine- 
ment of  taste  as  for  genius  and  learning,  reluctantly 
avows  that  he  deprecates  the  affirmation  of  Papal 
Infallibility  and  the  measures  by  which  some  persons 
1  Lord  Macaulay. 


XII.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  205 

are  advocating  its  definition.  But,  however  bitter  the 
struggle,  Dr.  Newman  will  humble  himself,  and  pros- 
trate his  reason  before  the  one  authority  which  cannot 
err.  The  Tablet  comes  to  his  rescue  with  the  casuistry, 
•in  which  it  is  so  great  an  adept,  but  which  his  refined 
taste  and  honest  mind  will  assuredly  spurn,  and  suggests 
that  the  learned  Doctor's  disapproval  of  some  persons, 
and  some  measures,  does  not  include  any  mode  of  solicit- 
ing the  definition !  Simultaneously  we  have  the  follow- 
ing avowal  of  the  Editor  of  the  Uterarische  Handtuetser 
of  Munster,  an  influential  literary  organ  of  Germany. 
A  formal  profession  of  belief  in  the  dogma  of  Infalli- 
bility is  followed  by  a  distinct  enunciation  of  the 
inopportuneness  of  the  definition.  c  But,'  he  adds,  c  if  the 
Council  should  proclaim  the  dogma,  I  shall  renounce 
immediately,  and  regret  as  an  error ^  my  opinion  of  its 
inopportuneness.' 

The  Church  of  Rome,  never  more  haughty  than 
when  in  the  lowest  depths  of  humiliation,  grows  stronger 
and  wins  heartier  homage,  as  its  head  is  most  bent  on 
crossing  the  currents  of  thought  and  of  life  which  flow 
most  strongly.  The  only  alternative  of  the  malcontents 
is  to  start  a  schism,  with  the  moral  certainty  that  they 
would  not  be  followed  or  supported  by  their  flocks  who, 
whether  in  France,  Italy,  Germany,  or  Spain,  know 
little,  and  care  less,  as  to  what  may  or  must  be 
believed,  and,  trained  in  the  school  of  Romanism, 
regard  religion  in  the  light  of  an  undertaking  to  ac- 
cept whatever  may  be  prescribed  by  the  head  of  the 
Church.  c  Catholicism,'  it  has  been  said,  cis  less  a 
doctrine  than  a  resolution,  or,  if  you  like  the  term 
better,  an  attempt  to  believe;  the  Catholics  of  the 
present  age  are  much  less  followers  of  a  fixed  creed 


206  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

than  believers  in  a  general  sense,  and  you  find  many  of 
them  rather  candidly  inclined  to  think  that  the  more 
they  succeed  in  believing,  the  more  Catholic  they  are.' 

The  fact  is  incontrovertible  that  the  Papacy,  under 
Pius  IX,  has  recovered  the  hold  upon  Catholic  Chris- 
tendom which,  at  his  accession,  was  purely  theoretical ; 
and  that  no  Pope  has  for  three  centuries  been  regarded 
with  an  affection  and  interest  so  great  as  the  present 
Pontiff  commands.     It  is  foreign   to   my  purpose   to 
attempt,  in  this   place,   any  exhaustive   enquiry   into 
the  reasons  which  may  be  held  to  explain  this  pheno- 
mena.    I  can  but  glance  at  some  of  those  which  lie 
upon  the  surface.    It  has  been  said  that  we  are  witness- 
ing the  last  leap  of  the  flickering  flame  before  it  dies. 
It  may  be  so ;  at  least  it  is  not  wise  for  the  impartial 
observer  to  discard  an  opinion  so  strongly  corroborated 
by  facts;  and  pre-eminently  by  the  sensational  expe- 
dient by  which  the  holy  Father  now  seeks  to  galvanize 
an  effete  system  into  spasmodic  and  artificial  life — 
simply  because  it  has  been  propounded  in  former  crises 
which  the  Papacy  has  survived.     Passing  by  the  fact 
that  modern  Romanism  presents  a  charming  quietism, 
the  fit  asylum  for  the  morbid,  and  the  natural  refuge 
of  a  shallow  sentimentalism,  we  readily  detect,  in  more 
transient  causes,  one  element  at  least  of  the  present 
power  of  the  Papacy.     As  the  sufferings  of  Pius  VII 
aroused  the  sympathy  of  entire  Christendom,  and  caused 
Napoleon  to  tremble  for  its  effects,  so  the  sufferings  of 
Pius  IX,  and  the  loss  of  his  temporal  dominions,  have 
awakened  an  almost  universal  sympathy  and  respect, 
which  his  personal  character  has  enhanced ;  thus  con- 
solidating the  influence  of  the  Papacy  in  a  far  larger 
degree  than  can  be  effected  by  the  semi-comic  spectacle 
of  an  GEcumenical  Council. 


XII.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  20J 

In  the  sympathy  thus  extended  to  the  Pontiff, 
'The  tears  most  sacred,  shed  for  others'  pain,' 
it  is  forgotten  that  the  cry  for  freedom,  so  long  vainly 
uttered  by  three  million  oppressed  Italians — raised  to 
the  pitch  of  frenzy  as  they  witnessed  the  noble  effects 
upon  their  compatriots  in  Piedmont  of  that  freedom 
which  they  coveted  for  themselves,  and  at  length  changed 
into  a  shout  of  triumph — was  essentially  a  cry  of  justice. 
Pius  IX  may  hurl  his  annual  anathemas  at  the  head  of 
the  'King  of  Sardinia,'  but  in  no  sense  can  Victor 
Emanuel  be  called  the  spoliator  of  the  Church.  His 
part  has  been  but  to  assist  these  down-trodden  and 
unwilling  subjects  of  the  Pope  to  reclaim  the  rights  of 
which  the  Church  had  despoiled  them,  and  which,  with 
purblind  fanaticism,  it  still  seeks  to  reassume. 

Of  the  many  illustrations  which  crowd  upon  us  of 
the  growing  popularity  of  the  Pontiff,  perhaps  the  most 
singular  is  the  proposal,  of  which  we  have  recently 
heard,  to  confer  upon  him  the  title  of  c Great;'  a  dis- 
tinction shared  by  two  only  of  his  256  predecessors. 
The  past  year,  with  a  jubilee  at  its  commencement, 
and  an  QEcumenical  Council  at  its  close — the  most 
memorable  in  his  long  Pontificate — has  witnessed  the 
growth  of  Papal  assumptions  in  a  degree  which  severely 
tests  the  toleration  of  Christendom.  Excited  by  the 
homage  offered  to  him,  the  condition  of  mind  into 
which  the  Pope  has  worked  himself  differs  only  from 
the  mental  state  of  visionaries  like  St.  Francis,  in  that 
the  language  which  expresses  it  is  that  of  a  later  era ; 
and  although  the  title  cPius  the  Great'  can  hardly  be 
regarded  as  due  to  his  acts,  his  courage,  or  even  his 
virtues,  the  present  occasion  will  probably  be  seized 
for   surrounding  his   name    and   his    Pontificate   with 


208  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

a  lustre  which  may  dazzle  the  vulgar,  but  to  which  the 
nineteeth  century  will  assuredly  not  recognize  his  claim. 

The  pretensions  of  the  Papacy  have  ever  been  the 
source  of  its  decadence ;  and  so,  in  the  interests  of 
religion  and  of  freedom,  we  must  hope  that  it  will  be 
again.  Pius  IX  has  already  successfully  accomplished 
the  unprecedented  attempt  to  enunciate  a  new  dogma 
on  his  own  unaided  responsibility,  after  having  simply 
consulted  the  dispersed  members  of  the  Episcopacy.  It 
is  not  then  surprising  that  he  has  proceeded  to  convene 
a  General  Council,  charged,  if  semi-official  reports  speak 
truly,  to  define  dogmas  the  acceptance  of  which  would 
plunge  Europe  into  the  darkness  of  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury, and  cause  the  Papacy  itself  to  be  execrated  by 
every  Catholic  power. 

Pius  IX  believes  that  he  has  a  mission  to  replace  the 
obnoxious  principles  of  the  Revolution  of  a.d.  1789  by 
those  of  the  Syllabus  which  simply  proclaim  a  pure 
theocracy  antagonistic  to,  and  destructive  of,  the  civil 
and  municipal  law,  and  would  bind  Europe  once  more  to 
accept  the  absolute  rule  of  the  priest.  The  Council  is 
expected  to  pronounce  the  Syllabus  canon  law.  cThe 
guidance  of  the  Holy  See,'  Pius  IX  tells  us,  c  is  the 
brief  and  compendious  rule  whereby  we  may  persevere 
in  the  profession  of  Catholic  truth.'  In  his  Encyclical 
addressed,  on  the  occasion  of  his  exaltation  to  the  Pon- 
tifical throne,  to  the  bishops  of  the  universal  Church 
(November  q,  a.d.  1846),  we  read,  c  Hence  it  clearly 
appears  how  great  is  the  error  of  those  who,  abusing 
reason,  and  dealing  with  the  oracles  of  God  as  if  they 
were  a  human  work,  rashly  presume  to  explain  and  in- 
terpret them  according  to  their  own  judgment,  although 
God  himself  has  established  a  living  authority  to  declare 


XII.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  209 

the  true  and  legitimate  sense  of  His  Divine  revelation, 
to  confirm  it  securely,  and  to  terminate  by  an  Infallible 
judgment  all  controversies  of  faith  and  morals ;  lest  the 
faithful,  being  circumvented  by  error,  should  be  carried 
away  by  every  wind  of  doctrine  through  the  wickedness 
of  men.  Which  living  and  infallible  authority  exists 
only  in  that  Church  which  was  built  by  Christ  our  Lord 
upon  Peter,  the  Head  of  the  whole  Church,  the  Prince 
and  Pastor  whose  faith  he  promised  should  never  fail, 
having  always,  without  interruption,  its  Pontiffs  de- 
riving their  origin  from  the  same  Peter,  placed  in  his 
chair,  and  both  heirs  and  defenders  of  the  same  doc- 
trine, dignity,  honour,  and  power.  And  since  where 
Peter  is,  there  is  the  Church,  and  Peter  speaks  by  the 
Roman  Pontiff.  ...  it  is  evident  that  the  Divine 
oracles  are  to  be  received  in  that  sense  which  this 
Roman  Chair  of  the  Blessed  Peter  held  and  holds.  .  .  . 
We,  therefore,  who,  by  the  inscrutable  judgment  of 
God,  are  placed  in  this  chair  of  truth  earnestly  exhort, 
Sec' 

In  the  Encyclical  to  the  Bishops  of  Italy,  on  the  8th 
December,  a.d.  1849,  Pius  IX  thus  expresses  himself: — 
cLet  your  faithful  people  remember  that  here,  in  this 
See,'lives  and  presides  in  his  successor,  Peter  the  Prince 
of  the  Apostles,  whose  dignity  is  not  removed  even 
from  one  who  is  unworthy  to  be  his  heir.  Let  them 
call  to  mind  that  Christ  our  Lord  established  the 
foundation  of  his  Church  In  this  Invincible  chair  of  Peter. 
.  .  .  Hence  it  follows  that  it  is  by  communion  with, 
and  obedience  to  the  Roman  Pontiff,  that  the  nations 
have  a  brief  and  compendious  rule  by  which  they  may  per- 
severe In  the  profession  of  Catholic  truth? 

Nothing  can  be  clearer  than  the  teaching  conveyed 
P 


210  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

in  these  words.  The  only  feeling  of  surprise  which 
they  awaken  is,  that  the  Pope,  who  thus  claimed  by  an- 
ticipation all  the  prerogatives  which  the  Council  in  its 
wildest  flights  could  confer  upon  him,  ,  should  have 
thought  it  worth  while  to  encounter  the  risks  insepar- 
able from  its  convocation. 

c  It  might  have  been  supposed,'  says  Dean  Milman, 
c  that  nowhere  would  Christianity  appear  in  such  com- 
manding majesty  as  in  a  Council,  which  should  gather 
from  all  quarters  of  the  world  the  most  eminent  prelates 
and  the  most  distinguished  clergy-  that  a  lofty  and 
serene  piety  would  govern  all  their  proceedings ;  pro- 
found and  dispassionate  investigation  exhaust  every 
subject;  human  passions  and  interests  would  stand  re- 
buked before  that  awful  assembly  -y  the  sense  of  their 
own  dignity  as  well  as  the  desire  of  impressing  their 
brethren  with  the  solemnity  and  earnestness  of  their 
belief,  would  at  least  exclude  all  intemperance  of  manner 
and  language.  Mutual  awe  and  mutual  emulation  in 
Christian  excellence  would  repress,  even  in  the  most 
violent,  all  un-Christian  violence  ;  their  conclusions 
would  be  grave,  mature,  harmonious,  for,  if  not  har- 
monious, the  confuted  party  would  hardly  acquiesce  in 
the  wisdom  of  their  decrees;  even  their  condemnations 
would  be  so  tempered  with  charity  as  gradually  to  win 
back  the  wanderer  to  the  still  open  fold,  rather  than 
drive  him,  prescribed  and  branded,  into  inflexible  and 
irreconcilable  schism.  History  shows  the  melancholy 
reverse.  Nowhere  is  Christianity  less  attractive,  and, 
if  we  look  to  the  ordinary  tone  and  character  of  the 
proceedings,  less  authoritative,  than  in  the  Councils  of 
the  Church.  It  is  in  general  a  fierce  collision  of  two 
rival  factions,   neither   of  which  will   yield,   each  of 


XII.]  OF    THE   PAPACY.  211 

which  is  solemnly  pledged  against  conviction.  In- 
trigue, injustice,  violence,  decisions  on  authority  of  a 
turbulent  majority,  decisions  by  wild  acclamations 
rather  than  after  sober  inquiry,  detract  from  the  rever- 
ence and  impugn  the  judgments,  at  least  of  the  later 
Councils.  The  close  is  almost  invariably  a  terrible 
anathema,  in  which  it  is  impossible  not  to  discern  the 
tones  of  human  hatred,  of  arrogant  triumph,  of  rejoicing 
at  the  damnation  imprecated  against  the  humiliated 
adversary  V 

1  '  History  of  Latin  Christianity.' 


P   2 


CHAPTER    XIII. 

None  but  the  man  who,  twenty-four  years  ago, 
flattered  himself  that  he  could  organize  St.  Peter's 
Patrimony  into  a  Constitutional  State,  could  now  have 
persuaded  himself  that  it  was  for  the  Pope's  interest  to 
summon  an  (Ecumenical  Council.  This  bold  act  of 
the  Pontiff  suggests  a  train  of  reflections  upon  some  of 
which  a  few  remarks  may  be  appropriate.  I  select  the 
following : — The  constitution  of  the  so-called  (Ecu- 
menical Council.  The  position,  in  relation  to  it, 
assumed  by  the  lay  governments  of  Europe.  The  prob- 
able nature  and  bearings  of  some  of  its  decisions. 

I  dismiss,  as  improbable,  the  vague  rumours  with 
which  the  special  correspondents  oP  certain  newspapers 
have  made  us  familiar,  to  the  effect  that  the  perplexing 
questions  which  are  pressing  for  solution  will  necessi- 
tate an  early  and  indefinite  prorogation,  and  that  the 
last  actual  session  of  the  Council  will  be  held  before 
Easter.  History  furnishes  no  precedent  for  a  course  so 
completely  at  variance  with  the  traditions  of  the  Roman 
See,  which  never  forgoes  a  claim  she  has  once  put  for- 
ward ;  whilst  the  ambition  of  the  Pontiff,  the  unyield- 
ing obstinacy  of  c  that  insolent  and  aggressive  faction,' 
who  have  elicited  the  protest  of  Dr.  Newman  against 
the  definition  of  the  Dogma  of  Infallibility,  and  the 
actual  majority  of  the  Fathers,  certain  now,  but  at  the 
least  doubtful  in  the  future,  who  may  be  relied  upon  for 
obsequious  obedience,   are   guarantees   that  whilst   so 


THE   TEMPORAL  POWER    OF   THE  PAPACY.       21 3 

many  good  things  are   upon  the  anvil,  Pius  IX  will 
strike  hard  and  long. 

The  question  of  the  constitution  of  the  Council  is 
one  of  considerable  interest  and  importance.     By  an 
(Ecumenical  Council  we  understand  a  Council  repre- 
senting the  whole  of  Christendom,  and  preserving,  in 
harmony  with  the  law  of  progress,  the  evidences   of 
organic  continuity  with  the  great  Councils  of  antiquity 
to  which  by  common  consent  the  title  of c  (Ecumenical' 
has  been  accorded.     The  first  thing  which  strikes  us  is 
the  revolutionary  character  of  a  Council  representing 
neither  the  governments  of  Roman  Catholic  countries, 
nor   the   various    branches   of    the    Christian    Church 
separated   from   the    communion    of    Rome, — devoid, 
therefore,  of  all  organic  continuity  with  those  which 
have  preceded  it.     With  that  utter  disregard  of  histo- 
rical facts  which  has  marked  every  encroachment  of 
the  Church  of  Rome,  it    is  now  contended   by  high 
dignitaries  of  the  Church  that  c  the  Pope  alone  enjoys  the 
right  of  convening  an  (Ecumenical  Council.'      None 
know  better  than  the  legislators  of  the  Roman  Church  the 
value  of  a  bold  assertion  in  entangling  the  understand- 
ing and  perverting  the  judgment.     Presuming  then  to 
discard  Archbishop  Manning's  dictum,  that  cto  appeal  to 
history  is  both  a  heresy  and  a  treason,'  let  us  bring  this 
unblushing  assertion  of  the  Bishop  of  Orleans  to  the 
test   of  historical  fact, — remembering   that    it    is   the 
pivot  upon  which  hangs  the  fulfilment  of  those  condi- 
tions which  constitute  the  validity  of  the  Council  now 
assembled  at  Rome. 

The  first  Councils  of  which  we  have  any  authentic 
record  were  brought  together  for  the  settlement  of  the 
paschal  question,  at  the  close  of  the  second  century. 


214  THE    TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

But  neither  these,  nor  the  more  systematic  Provincial 
Synods  of  the  third  century,  have  any  claim  to  (Ecu- 
menicity. No  one  has  claimed  for  them  any  inherent 
authority  binding  upon  the  conscience  of  Christendom. 
Their  convocation  was  regarded  in  the  light  of  expedi- 
ency rather  than  as  a  matter  of  right  and  duty 1. 

The  fourth  century  witnessed  the  rise  of  General 
Councils  and  the  firm  establishment  of  the  principle 
that  their  decisions  were  infallible.  These  Councils 
tuere  convened  and  presided  over  by  tke  Emperor  (without 
any  consultation  with  the  Bishop  of  Rome) ;  or,  in  his 
absence,  by  a  Commissioner  or  Patriarch  chosen  by 
himself  irrespective  of  rank ;  nor  was  any  Bishop  of 
Rome  selected  for  this  distinction  prior  to  the  Council 
of  Chalcedon,  a.d.  451.  From  this  period  one  hundred 
and  thirty-six  years  elapsed  before  any  Roman  Bishop 
presumed  to  claim  the  privilege  in  right  of  his  See.  It 
is  evident  that  no  such  priority  amongst  the  Apostles 
was  claimed  by  St.  Peter,  inasmuch  as  not  he,  but 
St.  James,  presided  at  the  Council  in  Jerusalem.  The 
Councils  were  attended  by  Imperial  Commissioners 
whose  duty  it  was  to  maintain  discipline,  and  regulate 
the  whole  business  according  to  the  will  of  the  Emperor. 
The  (Ecumenicity,  and  consequently  the  dogmatic 
authority,  of  these  Councils  depended  on  the  co-equal 
concurrence  of  the  Pope  and  the  Episcopate. 

Glancing  briefly  at  the  Seven  General  Councils 
which  preceded  the  disintegration  of  the  Roman 
Empire,  we  find  that  the  first — that  of  Nicea,  a.d. 
325  2 — 'was  summoned  by  the  Imperial  mandate^  whilst  the 

1  Riddle's  '  History  of  the  Papacy,'  vol.  i.  p.  101. 

2  I  have  been  furnished  with  the  following  mnemonic  doggrel, 


XIII.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  215 

presence  of  the  Emperor  gave  its  chief  weight  and 
dignity  to  the  assembly.  It  was  the  first  time  that  an 
(Ecumenical  Council  had  been  possible,  for  never  until 
now  had  the  East  and  West  been  united  under  a 
sovereign  professing  the  Christian  faith.  The  mandate 
for  the  convocation  of  the  Council  necessarily  eman- 
ated from  the  Emperor,  who  alone  possessed  the  requisite 
authority ;  and  the  principle  of  placing  these  assemblies 
under  the  control  of  the  State  was  firmly  established. 

The  appearance  of  Constantine  in  the  Hall  of 
Council  was  welcomed  by  the  bishops  as  an  unpre- 
cedented condescension,  the  whole  assembly  rising  to 
do  him  honour  as  he  advanced  to  the  golden  seat  pre- 
pared for  him.  In  the  traditional  pictures  in  the  con- 
vent of  Mount  Athos,  the  Sacred  Dove  hovers  over  the 
head,  not  of  the  bishops  but  of  the  Emperor1.  The 
Emperor  was  assiduous  in  his  attendance  at  the  meet- 
ings of  the  Council  which  were  prolonged  over  a  period 
of  two  months.     Whilst  abstaining  from  direct  partici- 

with  which  Continental  Catholics  recall  the  previous  Councils  of 
the  Church. 

Ni-Co— E— 

Chal— Co— Co— 

Ni— Co— La- 
La — La — La — 

Lu— Lu— Vi— 

Pi— Con— Ba— 

Flo— La— Tri. 
These  syllables  stand  for  Nice,  Constantinople,  Ephesus,  Chalce- 
don ;  then  Constantinople  twice ;  Nice  again,  Constantinople 
again,  Lateran  four  times  ;  Lyons — that  is,  Lugdunum — twice  ; 
Vienne,  Pisa,  Constance,  Bale,  Florence,  Lateran,  and  Trente 
(Tridentinum). 

1  See  Article  on  the  CEcumenical  Council.  '  Edinburgh  Review/ 

0ctober',869•  y^^Tum^. 

f  OF  THE  r       \ 

(university) 


2l6  THE   TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

pation  in  the  acrimonious  metaphysical  discussions,  he 
listened  with  patience,  softening  asperities  by  a  judi- 
cious exercise  of  his  authority,  countenancing  those 
whose  language  tended  to  peace  and  union,  and  con- 
versing familiarly,  in  the  best  Greek  he  could  com- 
mand, with  the  different  prelates  K  He  thus  contrived 
to  exercise  a  most  important  control  over  the  theolo- 
gical conclusions  at  which  the  Council  ultimately 
arrived,  and  was  regarded  as  the  highest  judge  in  all 
causes.  The  Bishops  of  Rome  c  considered  it  a  distinc- 
tion to  be  allowed  to  plead  for  themselves  before  his 
Council,  after  the  example  of  St.  Paul  V 

The  second  (Ecumenical  Council  (the  first  of  Con- 
stantinople), A.D.  381,  ivas  summoned^  controlled^  and 
eventually  dismissed  by  the  Emperor  Theodosius.  This 
Council,  as  is  well  known,  was  convened  for  the  re- 
establishment  of  Trinitarianism  as  the  doctrine  of  the 
East  j  and  although  the  bishops,  in  the  following  year, 
sent  an  account  of  their  proceedings  to  the  Western 
bishops  assembled  at  Rome,  it  was  to  solicit  their  co- 
operation in  carrying  their  decrees  into  effect,  not  at 
all  as  recognizing  any  necessity  for  their  ratification 
by  the  Bishop  of  Rome  3. 

The  third  (Ecumenical  Council  assembled  at  Ephesus, 
after  the  lapse  of  half-a-century,  a.d.  431 ;  and  twenty 
years  thereafter,  a.d.  451,  its  successor  met  at  Chalcedon, 
In  the  former,  summoned  by  the  Imperial  mandate^  the 
Count  of  the  Imperial  Domestics  was  present  through- 
out, and  exercised  his  rightful  prerogatives ;  whilst  it 
is  clear  that  the  Bishop  of  Rome  claimed  no  right  of 
precedence,   as   he   sent  his   legates   to  the    Council, 

1  Milman's  '  Latin  Christianity,'  vol.  i. 

2  Robertson's  '  History  of  the  Christian  Church/  vol.  i. 

3  Riddle's  '  History  of  the  Papacy.' 


XIII.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  217 

knowing  well  that  the  Emperor  had  delegated  the  Bishop 
of  Alexandria  to  preside.  In  the  latter,  although  the 
Bishop  of  Rome  was  represented  by  two  legates,  the 
Emperor  Marcian  presided^  and  reserved  to  himself  the 
right  of  ratifying  its  decrees.  It  is  worthy  of  notice 
that  the  formulary  of  faith  finally  adopted  by  this 
Council  tuas  brought  forward  by  the  Imperial  Commis- 
sioners l, 

After  the  lapse  of  240  years  Justinian  II  summoned  at 
Constantinople  the  Council  which  has  been  denominated 
the  Quinisext — its  object  being  to  complete  the  acts  of 
the  fifth  and  sixth  Councils  previously  held.  The  theo- 
logical opinions  promulgated  in  the  Canons  of  this 
Council  at  the  instigation  of  the  Emperor  and  of 
Theodora  were  highly  offensive  to  the  Church  of  Rome; 
the  timid  Pontiff  welcoming  the  sudden  death  which 
relieved  him  from  the  imperious  commands  to  receive 
the  Decrees  of  the  Quinisextine  Council  2. 

The  lapse  of  another  century  brings  us  to  the  seventh 
and  last  truly  (Ecumenical  Council  of  the  Church — the 
second  of  Nice,  a.d.  787 ;  if  indeed  this  Council,  whose 
decrees  were  not  received  in  the  West 3,  can  be  rightly 
considered  (Ecumenical.  Summoned  by  the  Empress 
Irene  to  decide  the  great  question  of  image  worship, 
the  decrees  of  this  Council  bear  the  impress  of  the 
ambitious  mind,  deeply  tinged  with  superstition,  of 
the  crafty  but  omnipotent  woman  who,  by  the  restora- 
tion of  image  worship,  thought  to  secure  the  blessing 
of  the  Virgin  and  the  saints,  whom  she  thus  honoured, 
upon  her  schemes  of  power. 

Up  to  this  period,  then,  the  right  of  assembling 
General  Councils  was  recognized  as  belonging  to  the 

1  Milman's  '  Latin  Christianity/  vol.  i.  2  ibid. 

3  Riddle's  '  History  of  the  Papacy,'  vol.  i.  p.  326. 


2l8  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

Emperors  alone,  and  to  them,  or  to  their  envoys,  were 
assigned  the  first  places  of  dignity  in  the  Council 
chamber.  The  right  of  the  Popes  came  in  gradually, 
and,  like  most  of  the  Papal  usurpations,  was  supported 
by  supposititious  credentials;  but  from  first  to  last 
every  Council  claiming  to  be  (Ecumenical,  has  at  least 
contained  within  itself  the  representatives  of  the 
secular  governments.  At  the  third  Council  of  Con- 
stantinople, and  the  four  Lateran  Councils,  the  sove- 
reigns of  Europe  ivere  represented  by  their  ambassadors^ 
whilst  at  the  former  the  Emperor  took  a  prominent 
part  in  the  discussions. 

The  Council  of  Lyons,  a.d.  1245,  witnessed  the 
discomfiture  of  the  great  Innocent  at  the  hands  of  the 
intrepid  Thaddeus  of  Suessa,  the  principal  Proctor  of 
the  Emperor  who,  with  calm  dauntlessness,  unmasked 
the  insincerity  of  the  Pope,  and  forced  upon  him  that 
fourteen  days'  adjournment  of  the  Council  which,  but 
for  the  pusillanimity  of  his  master,  might  have  averted 
the  bitter  struggle  between  Pope  and  Emperor — that 
dire  fatality  which  thereafter  hung  over  the  house  of 
Hohenstaufen,  and  the  implacable  hatred  of  the  Papal 
See,  extinguished  only  in  the  blood  of  its  last  repre- 
sentative on  the  scaffold  at  Naples. 

The  Council  of  Constance,  a.d.  14 14,  was  once 
more  summoned  by  Imperial  edict^  and  presided  over  in 
person  by  the  Emperor  Sigismund ;  whilst  at  those  of 
Pisa,  Basle,  and  Trent,  the  presence  and  active  influence 
of  the  Emperor  and  the  ambassadors  is  likewise  a  matter 
of  history. 

In  the  face  of  these  historical  facts  it  is  now  gravely 
asserted  that  the  Roman  Pontiff  alone  has  the  ancient 
and  indefeasible  right  to  summon  a  General  Council ! 
Not    only   without   concert   with   a   single   European 


XIII.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  2ig 

sovereign,  but  in  spite  of  such  warnings  as  the  attitude 
of  hostility  assumed  by  the  lay  governments;  the 
defection  of  the  intellect  of  Roman  Catholic  Chris- 
tendom, as  indicated  by  the  cautious  but  significant 
protest  of  the  German  prelates  assembled  at  Fulda, 
who  declared  that  c  a  General  Council  never  can  and 
never  will  proclaim  new  doctrines  j'  the  strong  re- 
monstrance, echoed  back  almost  from  the  grave,  by 
that  fervent  Catholic  and  distinguished  patriot  and 
statesman,  the  late  Count  Montalembert,  expressing 
his  adhesion  c  to  the  manly  and  Christian'  manifesta- 
tions of  the  liberal  Catholics  of  Germany,  as  c  a  ray  of 
light  shining  in  the  night  ^  the  hardly  less  significant 
letter  of  Father  Hyacinthe  to  the  General  of  his  Order, 
announcing  his  retirement  from  it  in  consequence  of 
the  censures  of  the  Vatican, — Pius  IX  has  presumed  to 
convoke,  in  his  own  palace,  an  assembly  in  which  no 
lay  representative  has  place  or  voice,  and  to  insult  the 
intelligence  of  Christendom  by  denominating  it  an 
(Ecumenical  Council  ! 

An  essential  condition  of  the  (Ecumenicity  of  a 
Council  is  that  it  shall  embrace  all  sections  of  the  Christian 
Church.  The  (Ecumenicity  of  the  important  Council 
of  Sardica,  a.d.  433,  is  disallowed  on  the  express  ground 
of  the  secession  of  the  Eastern  bishops.  The  (Ecume- 
nicity of  the  first  Council  of  the  Lateran  has  similarly 
been  challenged  on  the  ground  of  the  imperfect  repre- 
sentation of  the  Oriental  thrones.  The  Greeks,  con- 
tending that  the  representatives  of  their  communion  at 
the  Council  of  a.d.  869  were  impostors,  with  forged 
credentials  l,  to  this  day  reckon  the  Synod  of  Constan- 
tinople, a.d.  879,  as  the  eighth  General  Council.  At 
the  first  Council  of  the  Lateran,  the  precedent  set  by 
1  Robertson's  <  History  of  the  Church/  vol.  ii.  p.  353. 


220  THE    TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

the  earlier  Councils  of  inviting  the  representatives  of 
each  of  the  two  great  sections  of  the  Christian  Church 
had  been  adhered  to.  The  tinge  of  heresy  was  ac- 
counted no  ground  of  exclusion.  But  if  this  adherence 
to  precedent  was  needful  to  maintain  the  semblance  of 
unity  in  the  Church  in  the  ninth  century,  how  much 
more  so  has  it  become  in  the  nineteenth,  when  all  the 
intellect  of  Christendom  is  Protestant,  and  the  Greek 
Church,  after  a  thousand  years  of  schism,  maintains  its 
ancient  antagonism!  The  rupture  of  the  Reformation, 
however  much  it  may  have  increased,  did  not  create 
the  difficulty  of  a  combination  of  all  Christendom  in  a 
cosmopolitan  Synod.  If  it  be  said  that  the  possibility 
of  intercommunion  between  the  different  sections  of 
the  Christian  Church  no  longer  exists,  this  is  but  to 
echo  the  opinion  of  one  of  the  ablest  modern  apologists 
of  the  Papal  theory1,  that  c  in  these  days  an  (Ecume- 
nical Council  has  become  a  chimera.'  A  better  illus- 
tration of  the  correctness  of  this  judgment  could  not  be 
afforded  than  is  presented  by  the  assembly  now  sitting 
in  Rome.  Summoned  by  a  Pope,  confined  to  eccle- 
siastics, and  restricted  to  one  of  the  three  great 
divisions  of  Christendom,  it  proclaims  itself  a  merely 
Provincial  Synod,  or  at  best  a  General  Council  of  the 
Latin  Church,  strictly  forbidden  to  decide  controverted 
points  of  belief,  and  devoid  of  all  constitutional  identity 
with  the  Councils  of  the  early  Church. 

c  All  such  a  Latin  Council  can  do  is  to  condemn  what 
it  considers  to  be  error,  and  to  recognize  or  enounce 
"pious  opinions,"  in  matters  de  fide ;  but  it  cannot 
legitimately  impose  acceptance  of  its  decrees  even  on 
the  communion  it  represents,  and  much  less  on  the 
(Ecumenical  world,  as  articles  of  faith  necessary  to 

1  Joseph  de  Maistre. 


XIII.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  221 

salvation.  All  its  decisions  are  subject  to  revision, 
either  in  confirmation  or  rejection,  by  a  genuine 
(Ecumenical  Council,  when  such  may  meet.  And 
if  it  oversteps  its  powers,  the  responsibility  of  any 
scandal  or  schism  that  may  ensue,  arising  from  the 
violence  done  to  the  consciences  of  men,  will  lie  ex- 
clusively at  its  own  door,  and  that  of  those  who  pro- 
mote and  carry  it  through  V 

There  is  a  widely  prevailing  popular  belief  that  an 
invitation  was  addressed  by  the  Pontiff  to  the  Pro- 
testant Churches  of  Christendom,  if  not  to  take  part  in 
its  deliberations,  at  least  to  grace  the  Council  with  the 
presence  of  their  representatives.  It  is  wholly  devoid 
of  foundation.  Without  distinction  of  Church  or  sect, 
they  have  been  excluded  as  outside  the  pale  of  salvation, 
and  insulted  by  a  warning  to  repent  of  their  errors  and 
to  seek  admission  to  the  true  fold. 

The   case   of    the   Eastern    Churches    is   somewhat 
different.     An  invitation  to  the  Council — not  general, 
but   addressed  to  some  of  the  Churches — was   given 
with  much  unctuosity.     But  the    invitation  was  con- 
veyed in  terms  which  rendered  its  acceptance  impos- 
sible, and  drew  from  those  whose  authority  it  thus  re- 
cognized an  unanswerable  condemnation  of  the  Pope's 
presumption.      Whilst    the    Patriarch    of   Alexandria 
laments  that  c  whatever  views  we   share  in  common 
stop  short  at  the  desire  to  effect  the  union  of  all  the 
Churches  of  Christ,5  he  emphatically  adds,  c  all  beyond 
is  delusion   and   discord/     Eschewing   controversy  he 
states  in  plain  and  convincing  terms  three  principal 
objections    to   the   Papal   programme.      cIn   the  first 
place,  it  overthrows  and  abolishes  the  equality  which 
exists  among  the  Holy  Churches   of  God,  and   their 

1  Lord  Lindsay's  '  (Ecumenicity  and  the  Church  of  England.' 


Z22  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

individual  independence  proclaiming  withal  that  Rome 
holds  uncontrolled  sway  and  sovereign  dominion  over 
the  other  thrones  equally  self-governing  and  inde- 
pendent— a  pretension  evidenced  by  the  mode  adopted 
for  convoking  this  General  Council;  whilst,  as  is 
universally  known,  the  honour  of  precedence  is  all 
that  was  conceded  to  the  Pope  of  Rome  by  the  Holy 
and  (Ecumenical  Synods,  and  not  the  dominion  over 
other  Churches  ;  so  that  he,  of  his  own  authority,  has 
no  right  to  convoke  General  Councils  without  the 
previous  consent  of  the  other  most  holy  Patriarchs.  In 
the  second  place,  his  Holiness  the  Pope  also  gives  us  to 
understand  that  salvation  is  to  be  found  exclusively  in 
Rome,  that  there  alone  Divine  grace  operates  effectually, 
that  there  alone  is  the  centre  of  ecclesiastical  verity — 
in  virtue,  as  he  affirms,  of  the  privilege  conferred  on 
the  blessed  Apostle  St.  Peter  by  our  Saviour;  whereas 
the  grace  of  God,  through  the  divine  energy  of  the 
Church  of  Christ,  is  not  restricted  to  Rome,  or  to  any 
definite  place,  but  has  operated,  and  continues  to 
operate,  throughout  the  habitable  globe,  and  has 
expanded  itself  and  shed  abroad  its  radiance  to  the 
ends  of  the  earth.  In  the  third  place,  he  intimates 
that  he  convokes  the  General  Council  to  assemble  on 
the  Festival  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  of  the 
Mother  of  the  Lord,  a  dogma,  be  it  said,  wholly  un- 
known to  the  Church — a  recent  invention,  therefore, 
and  by  no  means  a  solitary  one/ 

The  Patriarch  of  Constantinople  observes  that  c  the 
(Ecumenical  Councils  were  convened  in  other  fashion 
than  as  his  Holiness  has  convened  this,'  and  proposes 
the  adoption  of  an  expedient  which  has  at  least  the 
merit  of  simplicity ; — 


XIII.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  %%9> 

c  Since  it  is  manifest  that  there  was  a  Church  in 
existence  ten  centuries  back,  which  held  the  same 
doctrines  in  the  East  as  in  the  West,  in  the  old  as 
in  the  new  Rome,  let  us  each  recur  to  that  and  see 
which  of  us  has  added  aught,  which  has  diminished 
aught  therefrom ;  and  let  all  that  may  have  been  added 
be  struck  off,  if  any  there  be,  and  wherever  it  be ;  and 
let  all  that  has  been  diminished  therefrom  be  re-added, 
if  any  there  be  and  whatever  it  be;  and  then  we 
shall  all  unawares  find  ourselves  united  in  the  same 
symbol  of  Catholic  orthodoxy  from  which  Rome,  in 
the  latter  centuries  having  strayed,  takes  pleasure  in 
widening  the  breach  by  ever  new  doctrines  and  insti- 
tutions at  variance  with  holy  tradition/ 

Those  of  the  Eastern  bishops  who  treated  the  Papal 
briefs  with  less  of  contumacy  than  was  bestowed  upon 
them  by  the  Patriarchs  of  Constantinople,  Jerusalem, 
and  Alexandria,  took  care  to  affirm  that  it  was  because 
they  viewed  them  in  the  light  of  private  communi- 
cations; and  that  they  equally  rejected  the  appeal  of 
the  Pope  who,  cwith  the  two  arms  of  crucified  love' 
had  opened  to  non-Catholics  cthe  bosom  of  living 
unity,'  by  inviting  them  to  his  (Ecumenical  Council1. 

The  Times  of  the  15th  September,  1869,  has  the 
following  remarks  upon  the  attitude  assumed  by  the 
Eastern  bishops : — 

cOn  the  29th  of  June,  1868,  the  bull  of  the  indic- 
tion  of  the  Council  was  duly  promulgated.  This  was 
followed  on  the  8th  of  September  of  the  same  year 
by  an  apostolic  letter  addressed  to  all  the  bishops  of 
the  Oriental  rite  not  in  communication  with  Rome, 
inviting  them  to  be  present  at  the  Synod,  "even  as 

1  See  Father  Felix's  'Conferences'  in  Notre  Dame. 


224  THE   TEMPORAL  POWER  [i 


CHAP. 


their  ancestors  had  been  present  at  the  second  Council 
of  Lyons  and  that  of  Florence,"  where  they  were  not 
allowed  to  vote,  and  had  to  sit  apart.  Abbate  Testa 
was  delegated  to  deliver  these  missives  personally  to 
the  schismatic  bishops  or  patriarchs.  Finally,  on  the 
13th  of  September,  that  apostolic  letter  to  all  Pro- 
testants and  other  non-Catholics  was  indited,  which 
exhorts  them  to  "embrace  the  opportunity  of  this 
Council"  (occasionem  amplectantur  hujus  concilii).  We 
remarked  at  the  time  that  the  effect  upon  the  schis- 
matic mind  of  the  East  was  scarcely  to  be  called 
encouraging.  The  Greek  Patriarch  would  not  look 
at  the  letter,  though  it  was  handsomely  bound  in  red 
morocco  and  emblazoned  with  gold  letters  bearing  his 
own  name.  He  had  read  all  about  it  in  the  news- 
papers, and  did  not  see  how  the  Council  could  do 
aught  but  lead  to  further  strife.  The  peace  once 
arrived  at  by  the  two  Churches  had  long  fallen  to 
the  ground.  His  mind  was  perfectly  easy  on  the 
subject.  And  so  the  gorgeous  volume  was  taken  from 
the  divan  and  handed  back  to  the  delegate,  who  was 
bowed  out,  and  departed  in  peace.  The  Metropolitan 
of  Chalcedon  returned  the  Encyclical,  with  the  simple 
but  graphic  "  Epistrephete,"  which  might  be  freely 
rendered  "Avaunt."  The  Bishop  of  Varna  did  not 
see  how  he  could  accept  what  his  master  had  refused, 
and  so  he  sent  back  the  Encyclical.  The  Bishop  of 
Salonica  had  no  less  than  five  reasons  for  his  declining, 
to  wit — 1,  What  would  his  Patriarch  say?  2.  Why 
at  Rome,  why  not  in  the  East  ?  3.  Because  the  Pope 
wants  to  get  us  into  his  grasp.  4.  The  Pope  wears 
a  sword,  which  is  against  Scripture;  let  him  put  it 
down  and  disband  his  army.     5.  Let  him  give  up  the 


XIII.]  OF   THE   PAPACY.  11$ 

"Filioque"  and  there  will  be  no  more  disunion  be- 
tween Greeks  and  Latins — which  last  proposition,  all 
things  considered,  is  very  delicious.  Yet  there  were 
some  exceptions,  which  the  official  Roman  press  calls 
cc  consoling."  One  schismatic  bishop  returned  the  letter, 
yet  with  the  promise  that  he  would  think  about  it  for 
himself;  and  another,  the  venerable  Bishop  of  Trebi- 
zond,  well  stricken  in  years,  seems  to  have  been  quite 
overcome,  and  received  the  (Ecumenial  with  the  most 
profound  tokens  of  reverence  and  admiration,  pressed 
it  to  his  forehead,  then  to  his  bosom,  looked  at  it  from 
all  sides,  for,  alas!  he  knew  not  the  mystery  of  Latin 
characters,  and  exclaimed  from  time  to  time,  "Oh, 
Rome!  oh,  Rome!  oh,  Holy  Peter!  oh,  Holy  Peter!" 
But,  adds  the  official  account  quaintly  enough,  it  was 
utterly  impossible  to  get  anything  else  out  of  him — 
notably,  whether  he  meant  to  come  to  the  Council 
or  not/ 

It  is  difficult  to  arrive  at  any  other  conclusion  than 
that  the  venerable  Churches  of  the  East  were  excluded 
from  participation  in  the  Council  of  Pius  IX  as  de- 
liberately, in  spite  of  these  specious  negotiations,  as 
were  the  whole  body  of  the  Protestant  Churches  who 
were  not  invited  at  all.  But  the  recognition  of  their 
right  to  participation  condemns  by  anticipation  the  (Ecu- 
menicity of  a  Council  from  'which  they  are  absent.  The 
Council  may  not  be  without  importance.  Everything 
indicates  that  it  will  prove  pregnant  of  the  most  im- 
portant results  to  the  Roman  Catholic  Church;  and 
we  rejoice  both  in  the  Council  and  in  the  claims  on 
which  it  is  based,  inasmuch  as  both  combine  to  show 
priestcraft  in  its  true  colours.  It  is,  however,  only 
in  pure  ignorance  or  perversion  of  the  historical  sig- 

Q 


226  THE   TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

nificance  of  the  name  that  the  Council  can  be  called 
(Ecumenical. 

However  impressive  the  splendours  of  its  ceremonial, 
or  however  pompous  its  claims  to  speak  with  authority 
upon  the  various  questions  by  which  the  Christian 
society  of  the  age  is  convulsed;  however  imperious 
the  restraints  it  may  impose  upon  the  free  utterance 
of  opinion;  however  malicious  and  all-embracing  its 
anathemas ;  or  however  momentous  the  decrees  it  may 
embody  in  formularies  binding  upon  its  adherents,  the 
disdainful  apathy  with  which  it  is  universally  regarded 
to-day  reflects  the  verdict  of  posterity,  who  will  treat 
its  pretensions  with  scorn, — softened  perhaps  with  a 
touch  of  sympathy  for  the  aged  Pontiff  whose  baffled 
ambition  has  exposed  him  to  the  contempt  of  the 
scoffer,  and  to  the  hatred  of  those  who,  with  himself, 
he  has  made  the  laughing-stock  of  Europe. 

The  attitude  assumed  towards  the  Council  by  the 
lay-Catholic  powers  is  significant  rather  for  what  is 
implied,  than  for  what  is  said,  in  the  recondite  utter- 
ances from  which  alone  it  can  be  gathered.  If,  aban- 
doning its  pretensions  to  (Ecumenicity,  the  Council 
had  busied  itself  only  upon  matters  of  ecclesiastical 
discipline  and  matters  of  doctrine,  such  as  were  indi- 
cated in  the  series  of  propositions  originally  submitted 
by  the  Roman  curia  to  the  Roman  Catholic  Bishops, 
the  secular  courts  of  Europe  would  have  disdained 
interference  in  such  controversies.  But  as  the  pre* 
tensions  of  the  Roman  Sse  became  more  apparent,  and 
the  rumour — first  vague  and  improbable,  but  soon  sur- 
rounded with  such  a  pomp  of  circumstance  as  to  remove 
all  doubt — was  circulated  of  the  avowed  intention  to 
elevate  the  syllabus  of  a.d.  i  864  into  a  dogma,  a  chal- 


XIII.]  OF   THE  PAPACY,  227 

lenge  was  thrown  down  which  it  was  impossible  for  any 
Catholic  power  to  ignore ;  and  here  and  there  an 
appeal  on  behalf  of  more  moderate  counsels  was  ad- 
dressed to  Rome.  That  of  Prince  Hohenlohe,  the 
Prime  Minister  of  Bavaria,  and  himself  the  brother 
of  a  Cardinal,  will  be  remembered.  When  Rome, 
overstepping  the  limits  of  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction, 
threatened  to  impose  ordinances  upon  her  clergy  which 
conflicted  with  the  civil  laws  of  other  lands,  the  govern- 
ments of  such  countries  were  at  once  placed  on  the 
defensive,  and  from  all  quarters  we  hear  the  echo  of 
the  same  word — Hold ! 

True  it  is  that  three  centuries  have  elapsed  since 
Europe  has  been  agitated  by  the  question  of  the  Pon- 
tifical right  to  absolve  subjects  from  allegiance  to  their 
rulers ;  but  the  bull  Coena  Domini,  to  which  reference 
has  been  made,  and  which  claims  this  power  as  properly 
belonging  to  the  Holy  See,  is  still  in  force,  and  though 
obsolete,  so  long  as  it  is  not  formally  repealed,  remains 
a  source  of  danger  to  the  peace  of  the  world,  and  justi- 
fies the  jealous  scrutiny  of  every  new  Papal  pretension 
by  the  lay  governments  of  Europe. 

But  if  the  promulgation  of  the  doctrines  of  the 
Syllabus  is  thus  fraught  with  danger,  much  more  is 
there  cause  for  alarm  in  the  projects,  no  longer  con- 
cealed or  apologised  for,  of  dealing  similarly  with  such 
matters  as  the  Temporal  Power  and  the  Personal  In- 
fallibility of  the  Pontiff.  Pius  IX  boldly  declares  him- 
self the  enemy  of  modern  civilization,  detesting  from 
his  heart  all  that  the  broad  stream  of  modern  thought 
assumes  to  be  good  and  true,  whilst  his  pleasure  will 
certainly  be  law  to  an  immense  majority  of  the  assembled 
prelates.    Hence  the  justifiable  alarm  of  the  French  and 

Q  % 


238  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

German  bishops,  and  the  attitude  of  hostility  assumed 
by  their  respective  governments.  Whilst  the  two 
leading  Catholic  powers,  Austria  and  France,  hold  the 
same  views,  German  and  American  prelates,  with  many 
distinguished  Italians,  are  united  in  their  approval  of 
a  policy  of  common-sense,  as  opposed  to  the  projects 
of  the  Ultramontanes.  The  Berlin  correspondent  of 
the  Times  makes  the  following  statement  in  reference 
to  the  position  assumed  by  Germany  towards  the  pre- 
tensions of  Pius  IX : — 

c  On  the  subject  of  infallibility  it  is  becoming  more 
and  more  evident  that  all  German  sovereigns  and  many 
German  bishops  are  arrayed  against  the  Pope.  Not  to 
speak  of  conscientious  scruples,  the  bishops  are  ob- 
viously afraid  that  to  declare  the  Pope  a  god  will 
outrage  the  feelings  of  every  civilized  being  among 
their  flocks,  and  cause  many  hitherto  accommodating, 
though  perhaps  somewhat  indifferent,  members  of  the 
Church  to  desert,  renounce,  and  attack  it.  As  to  the 
sovereigns,  they  have  no  wish  to  assist  the  Pope  in 
arousing  a  religious  movement  which  might  go  any 
length,  and  which,  should  it  attain  serious  proportions, 
would  be  sure  to  extend  to  Protestantism  also.  In 
Germany,  religious  apathy — the  prevailing  feature  of 
the  age — is  accompanied  with  so  much  downright  op- 
position to  all  that  has  been  hitherto  considered  ortho- 
dox, that  for  the  Pope  to  treat  this  country  on  a  footing 
of  intellectual  equality  with  Italy,  Spain,  and  France, 
and  desire  the  Germans  to  adore  and  idolize  him  in 
the  same  way  he  asks  others,  is  to  let  off  squibs  over 
a  barrel  of  gunpowder.  They  need  not  necessarily 
ignite  the  inflammable  material  over  which  they  fly 
and  crack,  but  they  may  do  so.     Already  Protestant 


Xril.]  OF   THE  PAPACY,  229 

Liberalism  is  preparing  for  such  an  event In 

the  meantime,  two  more  Catholic  professors  of  theology 
have  publicly  declared  against  infallibility,  viz.  Pro- 
fessor Michelis,  of  the  Clerical  Seminary  of  Braunsberg, 
in  East  Prussia,  and  Dr.  Schulte,  one  of  the  most  re- 
nowned professors  of  canon  law  at  the  University  of 
Prague.  In  addition  to  these  literary  announcements 
of  opinion  we  have  to  record  an  address  sent  by  the 
leading  ecclesiastics  of  the  diocese  of  Paderborn  to 
their  Bishop,  the  notorious  partisan  of  the  Pope  in  the 
Council.  The  address  declares  against  infallibility^ 
and  entreats  the  Bishop  to  conform  his  attitude  to  the 
wishes  of  his  chapter  and  flock.' 

The  publication  of  the  Twenty-one  Canons,  to  which 
I  shall  refer  more  particularly  hereafter,  afforded  the 
Governments  of  France  and  Austria  the  opportunity, 
of  which  they  were  not  slow  to  avail  themselves,  of 
energetically  protesting  against  the  definition  of  the 
threatened  dogmas.  In  a  despatch  remarkable  alike 
for  its  candour,  dignity,  and  conciliatory  tone,  the 
Foreign  Minister  of  Austria  pointed  out  to  the  Court 
of  Rome  the  complications  and  dangers  likely  to  arise 
from  a  struggle  between  Church  and  State.  In  a  com- 
munication addressed  by  Count  Beust  to  the  Austrian 
Ambassador  at  Paris,  of  which  the  following  is  an 
abstract,  he  lucidly  states  the  reasons  for  the  firm 
attitude  of  remonstrance  assumed  by  the  government 
of  Francis  Joseph  : — 

cThe  Catholic  Powers,  and  more  especially  Austria 
and  France,  being  anxious  to  leave  the  Church  at 
liberty  to  conduct  its  own  concerns,  have  not  inter- 
fered with  the  arrangements  for  the  Council  and  re- 
signed the  right  properly  belonging  to  them  of  sending 


23O  THE   TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

representatives  to  that  assembly.     In  thus  abstaining 
from  all  interference  they  had  been  actuated  by  a  wish 
to  show  their  respect  to  the  Church,  and  likewise  by 
a  recognition  of  that  principle  of  modern  civilization 
which  accorded  full  and  unrestrained  liberty  to  Church 
and  State  within  their  respective  spheres.     For  France 
it  had  been  more  easy  to  adopt  such  a  course  than  for 
Austria,  the    former,   by  her  treaties  with  the   Pope, 
being  entitled  to  stop  the  promulgation  on  her  terri- 
tory of  any  objectionable  ecclesiastical  decrees,  a  right 
which   the    latter,    by  her   own    Concordat,   did    not 
possess.      In  view,  therefore,  of  what  was  preparing 
at  the  Council,  and  remembering  the  protests  a  short 
time  ago  couched  by  the  Austrian  bishops  against  the 
new  school  and  marriage  laws,  and  the  agitation  to 
which  their  resistance  bad  given  rise,  Austria  could 
not  but   feel   uneasy  concerning  the   future.      It   was 
not,   indeed,  the   intention   of  the   Council  to   enact 
Papal  Infallibility  that  disquieted  her,  for  he  trusted 
that  this  doctrine,  if  proclaimed  at  all,  would  be  ex- 
pressed in  a  mild  and  merely  theoretical  form,  similar 
to  the   one  adopted  by  the  Florentine   Council,  and, 
therefore,   without    much    practical   influence   on   the 
course  of  events.     Nor  had  the  State  a  right  to  object 
to  the  proclamation  of  other  purely  religious  dogmas, 
such  as  the   immaculate  conception  and  glorification 
of  the  Virgin  Mary.     But  it  was  different  when  the 
Church  was  about  to  claim  a   permanent   and  com- 
prehensive supremacy  over  the  State,  and  to  arrogate 
to  herself  the  right  of  deciding  which  of  the  laws  laid 
down  by  the  secular  powers  were  binding  on  the  subject 
and  which  not.      Unfortunately,  this  was  the  stand- 
point assumed  in  the  Twenty-one  Canons  submitted 
to    the    Council,   and    warmly   advocated    by   certain 


XIII.]  OF    THE   PAPACY.  23 1 

parties.  But,  not  content  with  establishing  so  unac- 
ceptable a  principle,  the  canons  proceeded  at  once  to 
make  use  of  the  prerogative  claimed,  and  declared 
many  of  the  fundamental  laws  of  all  modern  and  civi- 
lized states  to  be  unsound,  invalid,  and,  in  short, 
accursed.  The  canons,  for  instance,  anathematized 
liberty  of  religion,  liberty  of  the  press,  liberty  of  in- 
struction, civil  marriage,  the  amenability  of  the  clergy 
to  the  criminal  code,  and  a  variety  of  other  statutes 
asserted  in  them  to  be  contrary  to  the  laws  of  God 
and  Holy  Church.  Now,  supposing  these  Schemata  to 
be  really  passed  by  the  Council  the  danger  to  France 
would  be  very  small,  as  the  principles  denounced  had 
been  the  law  of  the  land  for  nearly  a  century,  and  were 
likely  to  be  upheld  by  the  common  consent  of  society. 
But  in  Austria  legislation  had  only  recently  begun  to 
recognize  the  necessity  of  enacting  the  laws  long  intro- 
duced in  France,  and  the  consequences  resulting  from 
clerical  opposition  to  the  new  statutes  would,  therefore, 
be  much  more  unpleasant.  For  this  reason  the  Austrian 
Government  had  applied  to  Rome,  and  pointed  out  the 
disastrous  results  likely  to  arise  from  a  struggle  between 
Church  and  State.  Whatever  might  be  enjoined  by  the 
Church,  the  Austrian  courts  of  law  would  not  be  in- 
duced to  look  leniently  on  those  that  broke  the  laws 
or  incited  others  to  break  them.  Add  to  this  that  the 
majority  of  the  Austrian  Bishops  were  opposed  to  the 
canons,  and  in  the  event  of  their  being  passed  would 
be  subjected  to  the  cruel  alternative  of  either  not  pub- 
lishing them  or  of  doing  so  against  their  better  judg- 
ment, and  it  could  not  be  denied  that  there  were 
many  reasons  for  apprehending  an  undesirable  issue. 
Rome  should  beware  of  throwing  down  the  gauntlet  to 
the  civilized  world.'  ^<  >^ 

(university) 


232  THE   TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

The  protest  of  Count  Daru,  conveyed  in  his  now 
famous  note  of  the  20th  February,  is  yet  more  emphatic 
than  that  of  the  Austrian  minister.  Nothing  can  be 
more  explicit  than  the  language  in  which  he  commends 
the  firm  attitude  of  the  minority  of  the  bishops  who 
oppose  the  adoption  of  the  Syllabus  and  the  promulga- 
tion of  the  dogma  of  Infallibility ;  and  significantly  hints 
that  an  imprudent  persistence  in  this  course  would 
imperil  not  only  the  Concordat,  but  the  protection 
which  alone  has  rendered  the  meeting  of  the  Council 
possible.  c  People  cannot  be  so  blind  as  to  suppose 
that  the  maintenance  of  our  troops  would  be  possible 
the  day  after  the  dogma  of  the  Infallibility  should  be 
pronounced.  We  might  be  willing  to  leave  them  in 
Rome,  but  we  should  not  be  able/  It  is  true  that  His 
Excellency  has  recently  been  represented  as  so  uncom- 
promisingly hostile  to  the  project  for  the  withdrawal 
of  the  army  of  occupation,  that  he  has  threatened  to 
resign  his  portfolio  sooner  than  accede  to  it.  However 
plausible  the  reasons  assigned  for  the  reversal  of  the 
policy  sketched  out  in  Count  Daru's  note  of  the  20th 
of  February,  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that  the  cabinet  of 
the  Tuileries  can  have  so  misjudged  the  temper  of  the 
French  nation,  or  miscalculated  the  endurance  of  Italy, 
as  to  commit  the  egregious  folly  of  adopting  a  policy 
distasteful  to  c  that  generous  French  nation,5 — recently 
eulogized  by  Pius  IX  to  the  disparagement  of  their 
ruler, — hostile  to  Italy,  and  subversive  of  the  Septem- 
ber convention.  However  this  may  be,  it  is  unques- 
tionable that  the  issues  raised  by  the  publication  of 
the  Twenty-one  Canons,  appeared  to  the  French 
government  so  to  modify  the  position  of  neutrality 
which  it  had  originally  taken  up,  as  to  warrant  the 


XIII.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  233 

claim  to  representation   in  the  Council  by  a  special 
envoy. 

It  is  stated  that  an  attack  of  gout,  especially  affect- 
ing the  hands  \  accounts  for  the  dilatoriness  of  Cardinal 
Antonelli  in  replying  to  the  French  note.  That  reply 
however,  has  now  reached  the  Tuileries ;  and  the  con- 
flicting rumours  concerning  its  import  suggest  that, 
consistently  with  all  the  diplomacy  of  Rome,  it  is 
ambiguous  and  indecisive.  The  Patrie  of  March  26 
says: — cThe  reply  of  Cardinal  Antonelli  is  lengthy, 
and  very  skilfully  framed.  The  most  remarkable  facts 
to  be  noted  are — first,  that  it  does  not  dispute  the 
authenticity  of  the  text  of  the  canons  as  published  by 
the  Gazette  d'Augsburg ;  and,  secondly,  it  opposes  to 
the  demand  of  direct  intervention  on  the  part  of  the 
French  Government  in  the  Council  a  series  of  obstruc- 
tive reasons  which  do  not  go  so  far  as  to  offer  a 
definitive  and  categorical  refusal.  The  cardinal  takes 
pains  to  show  that  a  signification  and  consequences 
have  been  attributed  to  these  canons  such  as  the  court 
of  Rome  has  never  understood  to  be  ascribed  to  them ; 
that  in  such  matters  it  is  essential  to  distinguish  be- 
tween the  absolute  and  theoretical  and  the  relative  and 
practical  sides ;  that,  the  Church  being  a  spiritual  and 
divinely  constituted  society,  it  is  its  duty  to  offer  to 
men's  consciences  solutions  of  all  the  problems  which 
human  life  encounters ;  but  the  note  adds  that  the 
exercise  of  this  spiritual  right  in  no  way  implies  an 
intention  on  the  part  of  the  Church  to  meddle  with 
political  questions ;  and  that  in  all  cases,  with  regard 
to  nations  with  which  she  has  concluded  Concordats, 

1  It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  Cardinal  Antonelli  is  in  the  habit 
of  writing  his  own  despatches. 


234  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

the  Church  will  always  remain  faithful  to  the  clauses 
of  the  treaties  to  which  she  is  a  party.  In  conclusion, 
Cardinal  Antonelli  expresses  a  hope  that  the  explana- 
tions contained  in  his  despatch  may  appear  sufficient  to 
the  Cabinet  of  the  Tuileries,  and  that  they  will  induce 
it  not  to  insist  upon  the  demand  conveyed  in  the  note 
of  Count  Daru.  We  know  not  what  resolution  will  be 
adopted  by  the  Cabinet  of  the  Tuileries  in  consequence 
of  this  Roman  despatch,  the  effect  of  which,  however, 
must  previously  have  been  made  known  by  M.  De 
Banneville.  We  have  reason  to  believe,  however,  that 
at  the  moment  we  write  no  determination  has  been 
arrived  at.' 

The  question  of  the  representation  of  France  in  the 
Council  remains,  therefore,  in  abeyance.  But  it  ap- 
pears probable  that  this  reasonable  claim  of  the  Em- 
peror will,  eventually,  be  conceded.  Meanwhile,  the 
Papal  court — which  has  everything  to  gain  by  delay — 
secures  a  plausible  pretext  for  adjourning  the  discussion 
of  the  schema  relative  to  infallibility,  from  the  con- 
siderate disposition  to  give  France  time  to  consider  her 
ways. 

The  Council,  whose  duration  it  was  boldly  prognos- 
ticated would  not  be  longer  than  that  of  Chalcedon — 
that  is,  that  its  labours  would  be  completed  within 
three  weeks,  and  the  promulgation  of  its  decrees  form 
a  fitting  close  to  the  most  eventful  year  of  the  Pontifi- 
cate of  Pius  IX — has  now  been  in  session  upwards  of 
four  months.  The  Pontiff',  whose  inflexibility  of  pur- 
pose sufficed  to  bring  the  Council  together,  has  probably 
abandoned  all  hope  of  witnessing  its  termination. 

The  motives  for  the  convocation  of  the  Council, 
from  which  Pius  IX  anticipates  the  regeneration  of  the 


XIII.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  I^S 

world,  however  transparent,  were  certainly  not  specified 
with  any  distinctness  in  the  Bull  of  Convocation,  in 
which  they  were  nowhere  more  clearly  expressed  than 
in  the  following  passage : — c  In  this  General  Council, 
then,  there  must  be  examined  with  the  greatest  care, 
and  established,  whatever,  above  all,  especially  regards, 
in  these  most  difficult  times,  the  greater  glory  of  God, 
the  integrity  of  the  faith,  the  dignity  of  divine  worship, 
the  eternal  salvation  of  souls,  the  discipline  of  the 
secular  and  regular  clergy,  the  salutary  and  solid  in- 
struction of  the  clergy,  the  observation  of  ecclesiastical 
laws,  the  correction  of  morals,  the  Christian  education 
of  youth,  and  universal  peace  and  concord  betwixt  all. 
It  must  also  be  endeavoured  with  the  .  most  active  zeal 
that,  with  God's  help,  all  evils  may  be  kept  away  from 
the  Church  and  civil  society,  and  that  unhappy  wan- 
derers may  be  called  back  to  the  right  path  of  truth, 
justice,  and  salvation ;  and  that,  vices  and  errors  being 
once  for  all  extirpated,  our  august  religion  and  its 
salutary  doctrine  may  revive  in  the  whole  world, 
spreading  and  governing  more  and  more :  so  that 
piety,  honour,  probity,  justice,  charity,  and  all  Chris- 
tian virtues  may  acquire  vigour  and  flourish  to  the 
greatest  advantage  of  human  society/ 

It  is  self-evident  that  this  programme  of  the  delibera- 
tions of  the  Council  is  incomplete,  as  it  affords  no 
justification  for  bringing  together  700  ecclesiastics — 
most  of  them  advanced  in  years — from  every  corner 
of  the  habitable  world,  at  the  cost  of  personal  sacrifices 
which  it  is  deplorable  to  contemplate,  and  at  an  ex- 
pense of  ^1000  per  diem  to  the  already  exhausted 
Pontifical  treasury.  The  solution  must  be  sought  in  the 
extreme  elasticity  of  the  phrases  employed.     Nor  can  it 


2$6  THE    TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

be  denied  that  they  afford  scope  for  the  widest  possible 
range  of  interpretation. 

In  opposition  to  the  materialism  of  the  age,  to  the 
advancing  power  of  science  and  of  unfettered  thought, 
Pius  IX  desires  to  exhibit  the  moral  power  of  the 
Church,  of  which  he  claims  to  be  the  infallible  head ; 
to  assert  for  it  alone  the  right  and  power  of  leading 
the  progress  of  mankind;  and  to  receive  the  plaudits 
of  his  contemporaries,  as  well  as  of  posterity,  for  this 
closing  act  of  a  Pontificate  which,  commencing  in  the 
throes  of  revolution,  has  presented  to  Europe  the 
unique  spectacle  of  a  Pope  governing  upon  Constitu- 
tional principles;  the  spectacle,  more  familiar,  of  a 
fugitive  Pontiff \  with  a  Republic  proclaimed  at  Rome 
in  his  absence;  the  spectacle  of  a  Pope  restored,  to 
the  disgust  of  his  subjects,  coerced  into  submission 
by  foreign  bayonets ;  and,  finally,  of  a  Pope,  despoiled 
of  four-fifths  of  his  territory,  claiming  authority,  and 
gravely  asserting  spiritual  pretensions  worthy  of  a 
Boniface,  and  the  first  announcement  of  which  Chris- 
tendom, Catholic  and  Protestant  alike,  received  with 
incredulous  amazement. 

The  court  of  Rome  is  bent  upon  surrounding  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Council  with  such  profound  secrecy  that, 
not  content  with  imposing  the  penalty  of  excommuni- 
cation upon  any  violation  of  confidence,  it  has  actually 
prohibited  the  publication  of  the  names  of  the  speakers. 
It  is  thus  in  a  position  to  answer  those  upon  whom  we 
are  dependent  for  information  with  the  charge  of  mis- 
representation— that  frequent  resource,  with  a  certain 
class  of  mind,  when  suffering  under  the  process  of 
exposure.  I  shall  not  attempt  to  probe  unrevealed 
mysteries,  but  rest  content  with  a  cursory  glance  at  the 


XIII.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  237 

present  position  of  the  two  great  parties  in  fhe  Council, 
and  an  inquiry  into  the  probable  effects  of  the  decisions 
which  may  be  expected  on  some  of  the  leading  ques- 
tions upon  which  the  Council  will  have  to  deliberate. 

It  is  now  reported  that  in  the  event  of  the  ultimate 
disallowance  by  the  Vatican  of  the  French  Emperor's 
proposal  to  send  a  special  envoy  to  the  Council,  or  of 
its  disregard  of  the  legitimate  influence  of  the  lay 
governments,  the  liberal  prelates  will  withdraw  from 
Rome  in  a  body.  It  may  be  anticipated  that  this 
course  will  either  be  immediately  adopted,  or  defini- 
tively abandoned,  as  a  secession  now,  it  is  affirmed, 
would  imply  nothing  more  than  a  protest ;  whereas,  at 
a  later  stage,  and  after  an  important  division— say,  on 
the  subject  of  Infallibility — it  would  amount  to  a 
schism.  Would  Pius  IX  congratulate  himself  on  being 
thus  rid  of  his  opposition  ?  If  the  French,  the  Austro- 
Hungarian,  and  the  American  prelates,  to  the  number 
of  two  hundred,  withdrew  from  the  Council,  even 
Pius  IX  must  allow,  in  deference  to  the  precedent 
established  by  the  disavowal  of  the  (Ecumenicity  of  the 
Council  of  Sardica,  a.d.  433,  that  the  (Ecumenicity  of 
the  Council  of  the  Vatican  is  wholly  destroyed.  It  is  a 
matter  of  certainty  that  this  plan  for  nullifying  the 
decisions  of  the  Council  is  under  the  consideration  of 
those  whom  it  concerns.  These  prelates  inveigh  bitterly 
against  the  disadvantageous  position  in  which  they  are 
placed  by  that  peculiar  organization  of  the  Roman  and 
Italian  Episcopate,  which  secures  to  the  Italian  prelates 
a  most  unfair  and  absurd  majority  of  numbers.  But 
this  is  the  very  reason  why  the  Council  is  necessary  to 
the  Pope.  His  court,  a  senate  of  cardinals,  is  too  ex- 
clusively Italian.     This   source   of  weakness  is  appre- 


238  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

dated  in  Rome.  It  is  a  scandal  which  irritates  against 
her  every  national  sentiment  in  the  world.  c  It  is  the 
majority  of  her  own  subjects  that  she  is  now  in  difficul- 
ties with.  The  boasted  majority  she  has  not  the 
courage  to  use  represents  mythical  sees,  decayed  orders, 
a  multitude  of  petty  bishoprics  near  home,  and  purely 
official  creations  of  her  own  temporal  power.  The  mi- 
nority represents  the  people — that  is,  the  majority  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  communion  throughout  the  world1.5 

The  merest  glance  at  the  representative  composition 
of  the  Council  suffices  to  establish  the  reasonableness 
of  the  grievance  alleged  by  the  recalcitrant  prelates. 
Italy  with  her  population  of  27,000,000  is  represented 
by  230  cardinals,  bishops,  abbots,  and  fathers-general 
of  monastic  orders  •  whilst  France,  with  her  population 
of  34,000,000  has  to  content  herself  with  sending 
eighty-four  reverend  fathers  to  the  Eternal  City.  Nine- 
teen million  German  Catholics  are  represented  by  nine- 
teen deputies.  Spain  sends  forty,  South  America  thirty, 
the  Orientals  forty-two,  China  fifteen,  Australia  thir- 
teen. We  must  cap  this  list  by  observing  that  3,000,000 
of  semi-civilized  Sclavonians  are  represented  by  no  less 
than  twelve  docile  deputies,  all  pledged  to  support  the 
utmost  pretensions  of  the  Holy  See.  Allowing,  in  con- 
sideration of  their  more  advanced  civilization,  and 
their  proportionately-enhanced  moral  responsibility  and 
rightful  influence,  double  this  proportion  of  numerical  re- 
presentation to  Italy,  France,  and  Germany,  Italy 
should  have  216,  France  264,  and  Germany  152  de- 
legates. The  actual  numbers  are,  Italy  230,  France 
84,  and  Germany  192. 

1  The  Times. 

2  See  letter  of  the  Berlin  correspondent  of  the  Times,  February 
19th,  1870.     In  Times  of  February  24th. 


XIII.]  OF   THE  PAPACY,  -        239 

Notwithstanding  the  statement  of  so  great  an  au- 
thority as  Archbishop  Manning,  that  c  the  ranks  of 
the  opposition  are  daily  melting  like  snow  in  the  glance 
of  Pio  Nono;'  or  the  assurances  of  the  Tablet  that  an 
opposition  has  hardly  an  existence ;  we  prefer  the  testi- 
mony of  facts  to  the  word  of  an  Archbishop,  or  to  the 
asseverations  of  an  ultramontane  journal  pledged  to  the 
demonstration  of  a  foregone  conclusion.  The  courtiers 
of  the  Vatican  predicted,  with  real  or  simulated  con- 
fidence, that  so  soon  as  the  Council  met  the  personal 
infallibility  of  the  Pontiff  would  be  voted  by  acclama- 
tion. The  programme  was  imposing,  and,  while  the 
Pontiff  lent  a  willing  ear,  its  success  was  not  so  utterly 
improbable  but  that  Europe  listened,  with  bated  breath, 
for  the  firing  of  cannon  and  the  ringing  of  bells  which 
should  announce  the  intelligence  to  the  world.  We 
were  told,  and  we  received  the  information  with  be- 
fitting credulity,  that  every  bishop  attending  the 
Council  would,  by  his  presence  alone,  have  signified 
his  adherence  to  the  programme  laid  down  by  the 
Jesuits.  The  great  dogma  was  to  be  proclaimed  cby 
the  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Ghost;-'  and  a  distinguished 
English  clergyman,  who  was  in  Rome  at  the  opening 
of  the  Council,  was  told  by  a  high  dignitary  of  the 
Church  that  the  non-acoustic  properties  of  the  Council 
Hall  constituted  its  special  recommendation ;  c  for/  he 
naively  added,  cwe  don't  want  any  debating!' 

The  Jesuits  had  laid  their  plans  with  that  precision 
and  adroit  organization  of  which  they  have  ever  proved 
themselves  the  most  consummate  masters.  The  time 
was  come,  they  held,  when  those  who  were  not  with 
the  Pontiff  must  understand  that  they  were  against 
him.     The  opportunity  of  the  great  influx  of  Catholics 


240        •  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

into  Rome  during  the  festivities  of  the  centenary  of 
St.  Peter,  in  1867,  was  seized  to  administer  the  follow- 
ing oath  to  thousands  of  both  clergy  and  laity. 

c  Holy  Prince  of  the  Apostles,  St.  Peter,  I,  N.  N., 
moved  by  a  desire  to  offer  to  thee,  and  in  thee  to  thy 
successors  in  the  apostolic  chair,  a  tribute  of  especial 
devotion,  which  may  be,  on  the  one  hand,  for  thee  and 
for  the  Church  a  compensation  for  the  outrages  done  to 
the  see  of  Rome;  and,  on  the  other,  may  bind  me 
more  to  honour  her,  do  swear  to  hold  and  to  profess,  if 
necessary  at  the  price  of  my  blood,  the  doctrine  already 
common  among  Catholics,  which  teaches  that  the  Pope 
is  infallible  when  he  defines  in  his  character  of  Uni- 
versal Master,  or  as  it  is  called,  ex  cathedra,  what  must 
be  believed  in  questions  of  faith  and  morals,  and  that 
consequently  his  dogmatic  decrees  are  irreformable  and 
binding  in  conscience,  even  before  they  have  received 
the  assent  of  the  Church.' 

Six  hundred  and  fifteen  bishops,  we  were  told,  had  com- 
mitted themselves  to  teach,  support,  and  defend,  usque 
ad  effusionem  sanguinis,  if  necessary,  the  dogma  of  Papal 
Infallibility.  No  debate  would  be  permitted.  The 
business  of  the  Council  was  simply  to  define  and  en- 
force the  dogma. 

Such  were  the  confident  vaticinations  of  the  Jesuits 
in  Rome.  But  they  did  not  avail  to  drown  the  notes 
of  discord  which  heralded  the  crowning  act  of  the 
Pontificate  of  Pius  IX.  The  astute  cardinal  who,  for 
twenty  years,  has  been  the  most  influential  of  the 
PontifFs  advisers,  foreseeing  how  the  projected  Council 
would  be  received  by  the  cismontane  Catholics,  after 
vainly  exerting  himself  to  save  the  Church  from  a  gra- 
tuitous peril  accepted  a  qualified  disgrace  rather  than 


XIII.]  OF    THE  PAPACY.  241 

give  in  his  adhesion,  all  at  once,  to  a  forlorn  project 
for  framing  new  bonds  of  union  out  of  ignorance  and 
fanaticism.  The  press  of  France  teemed  with  urgent 
appeals  for  protective  measures  against  the  black  de- 
signs of  the  Council.  And  although  thousands  of 
Catholics  in  France,  as  in  Italy  or  Spain,  would  prob- 
ably accept  any  dogmatical  creed  propounded  by  the 
Council  with  that  indifference  which  the  comprehen- 
sive faith  of  Roman  Catholic  Christendom  engenders, 
it  soon  became  apparent  that  no  encroachments  upon 
the  civil  law  or  political  independence  of  the  State 
would  be  for  a  moment  tolerated.  But  the  less  com- 
prehensive faith  of  the  Germans  rebelled  against  all 
dogmatic  absurdities.  Austria,  exulting  in  the  new 
life  quickened  by  the  adoption  of  constitutional  insti- 
tutions which  had  their  birth  in  the  abrogation  of  the 
Concordat,  was  little  likely  to  tolerate  any  despotic 
encroachments  of  the  court  of  Rome :  whilst  in  Ba- 
varia the  Roman  Catholic  Premier — the  brother  of  a 
cardinal — conferred  with  other  German  cabinets,  and 
solicited  the  opinion  of  the  most  eminent  Roman 
Catholic  theological  faculties  in  Germany,  upon  the 
course  to  be  adopted  in  the  event  of  the  Pope's 
infallibility  being  dogmatically  promulgated,  or  the 
Ultramontane  faction,  i.  e.  the  Holy  Father,  deriving 
additional  authority  in  the  State,  from  any  decrees  that 
might  be  voted  by  the  Council1.     All  doubt  was  re- 

1  The  following  are  the  questions  which  were  submitted,  and  to 
which  the  faculty  of  Munich  replied  emphatically  in  the  sense  of 
the  government : — 

1.  If  the  theses  of  the  Syllabus  and  the  Papal  infallibility  are 
raised  into  dogmas  at  the  forthcoming  Council,  what  changes 
would  arise  therefrom  in  the  doctrine  of  the  relation  between 

R 


242  THE   TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

moved  that  the  Liberal  Catholic  party  in  North  Ger- 
many, though  disapproving  equally  with  Bavaria  of  the 
assembling  of  the  Council,  would  make  a  combined 
effort  with  the  prelates  of  Austria,  France,  and  Italy, 
who  were  hostile  to  the  pretensions  of  the  Ultramontane 
party,  not  only  to  secure  free  discussion,  but  also  to 

Church  and  State  as  hitherto  held,  both  theoretically  and  prac- 
tically, in  Germany  ? 

2.  Would  in  that  case  the  public  teachers  of  dogmatics  and 
ecclesiastical  law  feel  bound  to  make  the  doctrine  of  the  divinely 
set  rule  of  the  Pope  over  the  monarchs,  either  as  Potest  as  direct  a 
or  indirecta,  as  binding  to  the  conscience  of  every  Christian,  the 
basis  of  their  teaching  ? 

3.  Would  the  teachers  of  dogmatics  and  ecclesiastical  law  con- 
sider themselves  bound  forthwith  to  receive  into  their  lectures 
and  writings  the  doctrine  that  the  personal  and  real  immunities 
of  the  clergy  are  juris  divini,  and  belong  to  the  province  of  re- 
ligious doctrine  ? 

4.  Are  there  any  generally  acknowledged  criteria  whereby  it 
can  with  certainty  be  decided  whether  a  Papal  utterance,  ex 
cathedra — according  to  the  doctrine  of  the  Council  eventually  to 
be  fixed— is  absolutely  binding  to  every  Christian's  conscience? 
And  if  there  be  such  criteria,  which  be  they  ? 

5.  How  far  might  the  prospective  new  dogmas,  and  their  ne- 
cessary consequences,  exercise  an  altering  influence  also  upon 
popular  education  in  school  and  church,  and  further  upon  the 
school-books,  the  catechisms,  &c,  now  in  use  ? 

'  On  this  last  point  they  give  the  very  decided  answer,  that 
there  would,  indeed,  ensue  very  considerable  changes  in  the 
catechisms,  changes  which  they  point  out  as  clearly  as  may  be. 
The  juridical  faculty  to  whom  the  same  questions  have  been  sub- 
mitted has  not  answered  yet,  nor  has  the  theological  faculty  at 
Wurzburg  sent  in  their  reply.  But  there  is  no  question  about 
its  purport.  Europe  in  general  passes  the  Council  by  silently. 
Catholic  Germany  speaks  through  its  highest  authorities,  and 
unconditionally  condemns  its  aims  and  purports.' — Pall  Mall 
Gazette. 


XIII.]  OF    THE   PAPACY.  243 

wring  from  the  Council  an  authoritative  sanction  of 
their  proposals  for  the  complete  separation  of  Church 
and  State,  the  suppression  of  the  Index,  and  other 
reforms  for  which  they  had  petitioned  and  agitated  \ 

1  In  a  lengthy  abstract  of  a  paper  which,  according  to  the 
Wanderer,  the  Bohemian  clergy  proposed  to  submit  to  the  Coun- 
cil, we  find  the  following  bold  suggestions.  The  paper  begins  by 
saying  that  in  a  time  like  ours,  when  the  fundamental  doctrines 
of  Christianity  are  being  called  in  question,  when  doubts  are  ex- 
pressed as  to  the  existence  of  a  God  and  the  nature  and  immor- 
tality of  the  soul,  the  Council  would  be  guilty  of  an  error  in 
tactics  if  it  were  to  employ  its  forces  against  the  light  troops  of 
a  doubtful  ally  instead  of  directing  its  whole  attention  to  the 
attack  that  threatens  the  very  centre  of  the  fortress.  '  The  task 
of  the  Council  is  therefore  solemnly  to  define  and  proclaim  those 
doctrines  which  are  calculated  to  support  religion  in  general, 
revelation,  and  the  authority  of  the  Church.'  It  is  advised  to 
follow  the  example  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  in  avoiding,  as  far 
as  possible,  a  philosophic  terminology,  as  it  is  liable  to  be  mis- 
understood, and  thus  open  up  a  way  for  objections.  Certain 
boundaries,  too,  must  be  observed,  and  even  those  doctrines  to 
which  true  believers  are  sincerely  attached  should  not  be  inserted 
in  the  dogmatic  code  without  weighty  reasons.  '  Thus  the  Council 
should  not  proclaim  the  infallibility  of  the  Pope.  This  is  the 
sincere  wish  of  the  most  learned,  intelligent,  and  earnest  of  the 
adherents  of  the  holy  chair.'  Such  a  step  would  only  give  rise 
to  ridicule  among  unbelievers,  while  for  believers  it  is  quite  un- 
necessary, as  their  attachment  to  the  Roman  See  was  never 
greater  than  at  present.  It  seems  equally  unadvisable  to  make 
any  further  authoritative  statements  as  to  the  corporal  assump- 
tion of  the  Virgin  Mary,  the  state  of  nature,  the  cause  and  means 
of  supporting  grace,  the  manner  in  which  the  body  is  governed 
by  the  soul,  and  similar  matters.  These  have  already  engaged 
the  attention  of  former  Councils,  particularly  that  of  Trent,  and 
may  now  safely  be  left  to  theology.  With  respect  to  the  Index 
of  forbidden  books,  it  is  urged  that  before  a  work  is  condemned 
the  opinion  of  the  bishop  in  whose  diocese  it  appeared  should  be 

asked-  ^££5eTIbr^ 

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(university 
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244  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

In  Rome  rumours  were  rife  of  revolutionary  plots, 
formed  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  the  meeting  of 
the  Council,  or  of  cutting  short  its  deliberations  by 
assassination  and  incendiarism.  The  Council  was  not 
only  distasteful  to  the  Mazzinians ;  it  was  opposed  by 
many  of  the  Italian  episcopacy.  The  Archbishop  of 
Genoa  resigned  his  see,  and  retired  to  Savoy,  rather 
than  consent  to  attend,  and  the  government  deemed  it 
prudent  to  employ  large  bodies  of  firemen  to  watch  the 
erection  of  the  structures  in  St.  Peter's  for  the  accommo- 
dation of  the  members  of  the  Council.  Provision  was 
also  made  for  a  large  number  of  fire-engines  in  different 
parts  of  the  cathedral,  and  for  the  permanent  accommo- 
dation of  the  requisite  number  of  firemen. 

It  was  said  that  the  Jesuits  were  alarmed,  as  well 
they  might  be,  by  such  indications  of  the  apprehension 
entertained,  in  official  quarters,  of  an  outbreak  of 
popular  disaffection.  Certain  it  is  that  many  of  them 
would  fain  have  persuaded  the  Pope  to  abandon  the 
Council  of  which  they  had  been  the  chief  projectors. 
But  the  Pope  stood  firm.  In  the  course  of  nature  his 
Pontificate  must  soon  come  to  an  end ;  and  there  was 
nothing  he  was  unwilling  to  risk  for  the  sake  of  the 
grand  spectacle  which  should  close  his  eventful  career. 
To  every  suggestion  of  expediency  or  of  danger  he 
turned  a  deaf  ear.  The  quicksands  before  which  an 
Antonelli  stood  appalled,  affrighted  him  not.  As  to  a 
schism  upon  matters  of  faith,  he  cheerily  dispersed, 
with  the  ready  joke  ever  upon  his  lips,  the  mists  of 
apprehension  and  doubt  which  obscured  the  intellects, 
and  paralyzed  the  hands,  of  less  resolute  cardinals. 

There  is  much  reason  to  believe  that  the  infatuated 
Pontiff  was  less  prepared  than  were  many  members  of 


XIII.]  OF    THE   PAPACY.  1<\$ 

the  curia  for  the  determined  attitude  which  was  early 
assumed  by  the  compact  phalanx  of  a  powerful  oppo- 
sition. The  violent  and  arbitrary  measures  which  have 
been  adopted  for  their  suppression — as,  in  addition  to 
others  already  mentioned,  the  prohibition  of  unofficial 
meetings  of  the  bishops  even  in  private  houses — have 
immeasurably  strengthened  their  position.  The  most 
nervously  apprehensive  mind  amongst  the  members  of 
the  curia  probably  little  anticipated  that,  by  the  pro- 
ceedings to  which  they  lent  themselves,  a  machinery 
was  being  called  into  existence  utterly  beyond  their 
power  to  manipulate. 

The  information  which  reaches  us  of  the  character 
of  this  opposition  is  so  cumulative  and  circumstantial, 
that  it  is  impossible  to  ignore  its  general  authenticity, 
however  it  may  be  challenged  in  some  of  its  details. 
The  bold  assault  of  Strossmayer,  Archbishop  of  Bosnia 
and  Syrmia,  on  the  eighteen  propositions  brought  before 
the  Council  in  January,  and  the  censure  of  Cardinal 
de  Luca  for  not  stopping  the  debate ;  the  threat  of  the 
Archbishop  of  Paris,  supported  by  many  of  his  brethren, 
that  in  the  event  of  any  attempt  being  made  to  carry 
the  new  dogma  by  acclamation,  he  would  leave  Rome 
and  protest  against  the  validity  of  the  Council,  are 
matters  of  fact.  So  also  is  the  following  Anti-Infalli- 
bility address  drawn  up  by  Cardinal  Rauscher,  Arch- 
bishop of  Vienna,  and  signed  by  a  large  number  of 
bishops : — 

c  Most  Holy  Father, — We  have  received  the  draught 
of  a  petition  circulating  among  the  Fathers  of  the 
CEcumenical  Council,  and  calling  upon  them  to  declare 
supreme  and  infallible  authority  to  be  vested  in  the 
Roman  Pontifex  when  imparting  Apostolical  teaching 


246  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

to  all  the  faithful  upon  subjects  connected  with  religion 
and  morals.  It  is  certainly  strange  that  the  judges  of 
matters  religious  should  be  asked  to  decide  a  question 
before  it  has  been  discussed,  but  as  thou,  most  Holy 
Father,  divinely  appointed  to  attend  the  flock  of  Christ, 
so  piously  takest  care  of  the  souls  redeemed  by  His 
blood,  and  with  paternal  compassion  lookest  upon  the 
dangers  threatening  them,  we  have  thought  it  right  to 
address  ourselves  to  thee  in  this  matter.  The  times 
are  past  when  the  Catholics  used  to  contest  the  rights 
of  the  Holy  See.  We  all  are  aware  that  as  the  human 
body,  without  the  head,  is  but  a  mutilated  trunk,  so 
can  no  Council  of  the  entire  Church  be  held  without 
the  successor  of  St.  Peter ;  and  we  all  obey  the  mandates 
of  the  Holy  See  with  ready  willingness.  As  regards 
the  authority  which  the  faithful  are  obliged  to  concede 
to  the  Roman  Pontiff,  this  has  been  settled  by  the 
Council  of  Trent,  and  also  by  the  Council  of  Florence. 
The  decrees  of  the  latter,  particularly,  ought  to  be  the 
more  faithfully  observed,  inasmuch  as,  having  been 
enacted  with  the  common  consent  of  Latins  and  Greeks, 
they  are  destined  some  day,  when  the  Lord  will  take 
pity  on  the  Orient  now  oppressed  by  so  many  evils, 
to  become  the  basis  of  the  reunion  of  the  Church. 
Nor  must  we  leave  it  unmentioned  that  at  a  time  when 
the  Church  is  compelled  more  earnestly  than  ever  to 
wage  war  against  those  who  denounce  religion  as  a 
mere  fiction,  vain  and  idle  indeed,  yet  pernicious  to 
the  human  race,  it  cannot  be  opportune  to  exact  of 
the  Catholic  nations,  already  exposed  to  so  much  seduc- 
tion and  temptation,  heavier  duties  (majora)  than  were 
enjoined  on  them  by  the  Council  of  Trent.  It  is  true 
that,  although  Bellarminus,  and  with   him   the  whole 


XIII.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  247 

Catholic  Church,  affirms  that  matters  of  faith  are  to  be 
chiefly  decided  by  Apostolical  tradition  and  the  com- 
mon consent  of  the  Church,  and  although  the  best  way 
to  ascertain  the  decision  of  the  Church  is  to  convene 
a  Universal  Synod,  yet  from  the  Council  of  the  Apostles 
and  Elders  of  Jerusalem  down  to  the  Council  of  Nice 
have  the  innumerable  errors  of  the  local  Churches  been 
checked  and  extinguished  by  the  decisions  of  the  suc- 
cessors of  St.  Peter,  approved  by  the  entire  Church. 
Nor  do  we  deny  that  while  all  faithful  believers  are 
bound  to  obey  the  behests  of  the  Holy  See,  there  are 
pious  and  erudite  men  teaching  over  and  above  this 
that  any  utterances  of  the  supreme  Pontiff  on  matters 
of  religion  and  morality,  when  formally  (ex  cathedra) 
made  and  announced,  must  be  held  irrefragable,  al- 
beit lacking  the  express  consent  of  the  Church.  Yet 
we  must  not  omit  stating  that  grave  objections  to  this 
teaching  may  be  based  on  the  acts  and  utterances  of 
the  Fathers  of  the  Church, — objections  supported  by 
the  evidence  of  genuine  historical  documents  and  the 
Catholic  doctrine  itself.  Unless  the  difficulties  arising 
from  this  circumstance  are  entirely  solved  and  done 
away  with,  it  is  possible  that  the  doctrine  advocated 
in  the  above-mentioned  petition  will  some  day  be 
inculcated  on  the  Christian  people  as  one  revealed 
by  the  Almighty.  We  have  no  wish  to  dwell  upon 
this  prospect  (yerum  ab  k'tsce  discutlendls  refuglt  animus)^ 
and  confidently  entreat  thee  to  obviate  the  necessity 
of  such  a  discussion.  We  think  we  may  say  that  per- 
forming episcopal  functions  among  the  more  eminent 
nations  of  the  Catholic  world,  and  being  by  daily  ex- 
perience well  conversant  with  the  state  of  things  in 
our  respective  countries,  the  enactment  of  the  doctrine 


248  THE    TEMPORAL    POWER  [CHAP. 

proposed  will  only  supply  fresh  arms  of  attack  to  the 
enemies  of  religion,  and  enable  them  to  rouse  invidious 
feelings  even  in  better  and  more  virtuous  men  (melioris 
not<e  vivos)  than  themselves.  We  are  certain,  moreover, 
that  such  an  event  in  one  part  of  Europe,  at  any  rate, 
would  be  taken  advantage  of  by  the  Governments  to 
infringe  the  remnant  of  rights  still  possessed  by  the 
Church.  Having  laid  this  before  thy  Holiness  with 
the  sincerity  due  to  the  common  father  of  all  true 
believers,  we  beseech  thee  to  prohibit  the  discussion 
in  the  (Ecumenical  Council  of  the  doctrine  recom- 
mended in  the  above-mentioned  petition.  Prostrating 
ourselves  at  thy  feet,  both  in  our  own  name  and  on 
behalf  of  the  nations  which  we  have  undertaken  to 
guide  to  the  knowledge  of  God  (ad  Deum  perducendos)^ 
we  ask  for  thy  apostolical  blessing.  We  remain  the 
most  humble,  most  obedient,  and  devoted  servants  of 
thy  Holiness/ 

Hardly  less  important  is  the  following  protest  of 
the  German  and  Hungarian  bishops  against  the  regu- 
lations of  the  Council : — 

c  Most  Holy  Father, — All  the  Bishops  of  the  entire 
world,  and  among  them  we  the  undersigned,  most 
ardently  desire  that  the  Oecumenical  Council,  so  hap- 
pily inaugurated  under  the  auspices  of  your  Holiness, 
may  be  successfully  continued,  so  that  it  may  supply 
the  various  nations  with  remedies  against  the  many 
new  evils  oppressing  them,  and  impart  to  the  Holy 
Church  of  God  fresh  means  and  strength  to  fulfil  the 
mission  divinely  imposed  upon  it.  In  order  that  this 
object  may  be  the  more  surely  attained,  we  take  the 
liberty  of  acquainting  your  Holiness  with  the  anxiety 
we  feel  concerning  a  matter  connected  with  the  debates 


XIII.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  249 

of  this  ecclesiastical  assembly.  In  taking  this  step  we  are 
animated  by  that  devotion  to  the  Holy  Apostolical  See 
always  felt  by  the  Bishops  of  the  entire  world,  and  never 
more  so  than  at  this  present  time. 

cIn  the  rules  and  regulations  of  the  Council  pre- 
scribed by  your  Holiness,  the  most  important  clause, 
perhaps,  is  the  second,  referring  to  the  privilege  of  the 
members  to  direct  the  attention  of  the  assembly  to 
such  matters  as  they  may  think  fit  to  introduce.  There 
are  those  who  think  that  by  the  clause  in  question  the 
right  of  the  assembled  Fathers  to  start  any  discussion 
they  may  deem  conducive  to  the  public  weal  has  been 
taken  away,  its  exercise  having  been  made  dependent 
on  a  favour  to  be  only  exceptionally  accorded.  Most 
Holy  Father,  we  are  all  firmly  convinced  that  the  body 
of  the  Church  cannot  be  strong  and  healthy  unless 
possessed  of  a  lofty  and  powerful  head,  and  that  the 
proceedings  of  the  Synod  cannot  be  correct  and  orderly 
unless  the  Divine  rights  of  the  Primacy  are  properly 
protected  and  observed.  But  if  this  is  undoubtedly 
true,  it  is  not  less  so  that  the  other  members  of  the 
mystical  body  of  Christ  likewise  require  to  be  protected 
in  their  special  functions,  and  that  the  College  of 
Bishops,  more  particularly,  must  be  in  a  position  to 
exercise  the  rights  inherent  to  them  by  virtue  of  their 
office  and  character,  if  the  head  is  to  retain  its  proper 
strength,  and  to  act  safely  and  undisturbedly.  By  God's 
ordinance  the  head  and  the  body  are  intimately  con- 
nected and  inseparably  united  with  each  other.  Equally 
as,  therefore,  in  the  exercise  of  your  Holiness5  s  undoubted 
privilege,  your  Holiness  has  condescended  to  lay  down 
the  manner  of  procedure  in  the  Holy  Synod,  and  pre- 
scribe the  wisest  and  most  effective  rules  concerning 


25°  THE    TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

the  manner  and  order  of  treatment  of  the  subjects  intro- 
duced, so  the  Fathers  of  the  Council,  if  feeling  prompted 
to  prefer  aught  connected  with  the  welfare  of  the 
Church,  or  to  make  a  proposition  aiming  at  the  further- 
ance of  the  same,  have  always  justly  enjoyed  the  right 
to  do  so  by  virtue  of  their  position  and  office,  the  only 
condition  exacted  being  that  they  should  speak  with 
the  devotion  and  veneration  due  to  the  Head  of  the 
Church.  We  state  this  the  more  confidently,  inasmuch 
as  your  Holiness  has  yourself  condescended  to  exhort  us 
to  express  freely  whatever  we  may  consider  to  be  cal- 
culated to  promote  the  public  weal ;  and  inasmuch  as, 
in  taking  this  step,  we  are  only  following  in  the  foot- 
steps of  the  most  celebrated  Council  of  Trent  (Sess. 
XXIV.,  cap.  21). 

c  In  our  opinion,  therefore,  there  can  have  been  no 
intention  to  infringe  our  rights  by  the  abovementioned 
clause;  and  we  should  be  greatly  strengthened  in  this 
our  conviction  if  your  Holiness  would  kindly  permit 
that  the  committee  appointed  for  the  preliminary  ex- 
amination of  propositions  introduced  by  members  be 
reinforced  by  some  Fathers  elected  by  the  Council  out 
of  their  own  midst,  and  also  that  members  introducing 
propositions  be  allowed  access  to  the  said  committee, 
to  enable  them  to  take  part  in  the  examination  thereof. 

cIn  submitting  this,  with  filial  devotion,  to  your 
wise  consideration  and  judgment,  we  hope,  Most  Holy 
Father,  that  what,  animated  by  the  purest  intentions, 
we  have  been  prompted  to  prefer  will  be  well  received. 

c  Prostrating  ourselves  at  the  feet  of  your  Holiness, 
we  are  the  most  obedient  servants  of  your  Holiness, — 

c  Cardinal  Schwarzenberg. 

c  Fiirstenberg,  Archbishop  of  Olmiitz. 


XIII.]  OF    THE   PAPACY.  25 1 

c  Gregor  Scherr,  Archbishop  of  Munich. 

c  Michael  von  Deinlein,  Archbishop  of  Bamberg. 

c  Ludwig  Haynald,  Archbishop  of  Kolosa. 

c  Heinreich  Forster,  Archbishop  of  Breslau. 

c  Pancratius  Dinkel,  Bishop  of  Augsburg. 

c  Valentin  Viery,  Bishop  ofGorz. 

c  Gregor  Simonovicz,  Archbishop  of  Lemberg  (of  the 
Armenian  Rite). 

c  Bartholomaeus,  Bishop  of  Trieste. 

c  Joannes  Zirzik,  Bishop  of  Budweis. 

c  Georg  Dobrila,  Episcop.  Parent. 

( Jacobus  Stepnisnigg,  Episcop.  Lavantin. 

c  Alexander  Bonnaz,  Bishop  of  Csanad. 

c  Matthaeus  Eberhard,  Bishop  of  Trier. 

c  Eduard  Jacob,  Bishop  of  Hildesheim. 

c  Michael  Fogarassy,  Bishop  of  Transylvania. 

c  Joseph  Strossmayer,  Bishop  of  Bosnia  and  Syrmia. 

c  Stephan  Lipovniczky,  Bishop  of  Crosswardein. 

c  Sigismund  Kovacs,  Bishop  of  Fiinfkirchen. 

c  Ludwig  Ferwerk,  Bishop  of  Lemberg. 

c  Joannes  Beckmann,  Bishop  of  Osnabriick. 

c  Georg  Smiciklas,  Episcop.  Crisiens. 

c  Hieronymus  Zeidler,  Abbas  Strahoviensis. 

c  Wilhelm  Ketteler,  Bishop  ofMayence. 

cPetrus  Kenrick,  Archbishop   of  St.  Louis,  United 
States/ 

In  the  face  of  these  events  it  is  impossible  to  doubt 
that  the  opposition,  whilst  growing  in  numbers  and  in 
moral  weight,  is  organizing  a  consistent  policy  of  re- 
sistance, and  threatening  a  crisis  for  which  Rome  is 
unprepared.  Already  it  has  inspired  in  the  Jesuits  a 
misgiving  which  is  likely  to  deter  them  from  bringing 
forward  some  of  their  most  monstrous  propositions.    In 


252  THE    TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

addition  to  several  cardinals,  more  than  two  hundred 
bishops  are  enrolled  in  its  ranks.  It  is  instructive  to 
note  that  whilst  the  members  of  the  Council  who  are  in 
opposition  to  the  Pontiff  and  his  Jesuit  advisers  are  a 
minority,  they  represent  no  less  than  80,000,000  mem- 
bers of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  whose  adherents 
throughout  the  entire  world  cannot  be  computed  at 
more  than  170,000,000;  a  circumstance  which  invests 
the  remote  chance  of  schism  with  a  terrible  signifi- 
cance. The  really  representative  men  are  in  the  ranks 
of  the  opposition.  The  Archbishop  of  Paris,  it  has  been 
said,  c  represents  more  Catholics  than  all  the  Roman 
bishops  together.3 

This  formidable  opposition  has  awakened  the  keenest 
irritation  in  the  minds  of  the  Papalist  party,  and  of  the 
Pontiff  himself,  who  denounces  them  in  language  as 
remarkable  for  its  boldness  as  for  its  energy,  con- 
sidering the  recent  exposures  of  c  the  historical  frauds' 
upon  which  Papal  pretensions  are  based.  In  a  recent 
letter  to  an  Ultramontane  Benedictine  his  Holiness 
denounces  the  c  madness,3  c  obstinacy,5  c  corrupt  prac- 
tices/ c  audacity,'  e  folly,'  and c  spirit  of  hatred,  violence, 
and  artifice,'  which  distinguish  the  party  represented  by 
Doupanloup,  Strossmayer,  and  Dollinger.  cThey  un- 
dertake,' he  says,  cto  reform  even  the  divine  constitu- 
tion of  the  Church,  and  to  adapt  it  to  the  modern  forms 
of  civil  governments,  in  order  more  readily  to  lower 
the  authority  of  the  supreme  chief  whom  Christ  has 
appointed,  and  whose  prerogatives  they  dread,'  employ- 
ing in  their  nefarious  work  c  historical  frauds  .  .  .  and 
sophisms  of  all  kinds.' 

A  significant  illustration  has  been  recently  afforded  of 
the  lengths  to  which  these  Infalliblists  are  ready  to  go 


XIII.J  OF   THE  PAPACY.  2$3 

in  despotically  silencing  their  opponents.  The  Augsburg 
Allgemelne  Zeltung  informs  us  that  when,  at  a  recent 
sitting  of  the  Council,  Dr.  Strossmayer  declared  that  a 
new  dogma  of  faith  could  not  be  established  without  a 
moral  unanimity  of  the  Fathers,  he  was  ordered  by  the 
President  to  leave  the  Council 1 !  The  desperate  at- 
tempts of  cthis  insolent  and  aggressive  faction'  to 
recover  lost  ground,  and  by  any  means  to  carry  the 
dogma  upon  which  their  hearts  are  set,  have  proved 
the  occasion  of  the  claim  now  put  forward  by  France 
to  send  a  representative  to  the  Council.  At  the  same 
time  Baron  Beust,  on  behalf  of  Austria,  asserts  the 
right,  c  properly  belonging  to  the  Catholic  powers,'  to 
direct  representation  in  the  Council,  which  however 
he  abstains  from  claiming  out  of  respect  to  the 
Church, c  and  a  recognition  of  that  principle  of  modern 
civilization  which  accords  full  and  unrestrained  liberty 
to  Church  and  State  within  their  respective  spheres.' 
All  the  Catholic  powers  in  fact  concur  in  the  views  of 
France,  and,  although  advancing  no  similar  claim,  have 
resolved  mutually  to  concert  measures  to  insure,  by 
existing  laws,  each  in  its  own  territory,  respect  for 
those  civil  rights  menaced  by  the  schemata  submitted  to 
the  Council. 

1  The  Roman  correspondent  of  the  Cologne  Gazette  informs 
us  that  when  the  Bishop  began  to  touch  on  the  question  whether 
the  dogmas  should  be  passed  by  a  majority  of  votes,  or  only,  as 
in  former  councils,  when  all  the  members  are  unanimous,  the 
Council  lost  all  patience.  Cries  of  '  Haereticus  !  haereticus ! '  and 
'  Damnamus  eum!'  were  heard  on  all  sides.  One  bishop  ex- 
claimed, 'At  ego  non  damno  eum,'  upon  which  the  others  re- 
peated '  Damnamus,'  and  shouted  to  the  speaker,  '  Tu  es  pro- 
testans  !  taceas  !  ab  ambone  descendas ! ' 


CHAPTER    XIV. 


1  shall  limit  my  observations  upon  the  probable 
decisions  of  the  Council,  and  the  consequences  which 
may  be  expected  to  flow  from  them,  to  the  following. 
The  proposal  to  elevate  the  Temporal  Power  into  a 
dogma.  The  definition  of  the  corporeal  assumption  of 
the  Virgin — and,  as  is  now  added,  of  St.  Joseph.  The 
Syllabus.  And,  lastly,  the  main  business  of  the  Council, 
the  enunciation  of  the  dogma  of  the  Personal  Infalli- 
bility of  the  Pontiff  in  direct  contradiction  to  the 
decision  of  the  Council  of  Constance,  which  sub- 
ordinated the  Papal  authority  to  that  of  a  General 
Council. 

The  pretensions  of  the  ecclesiastical  politicians  by 
whom  Pius  IX  has  surrounded  himself  are  as  unlimited, 
and  far  more  utterly  in  conflict .  with  the  spirit  of  the 
age,  than  were  the  wildest  dreams  of  the  Gregories  and 
the  Innocents  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Nor  is  there  any 
attempt  to  veil  the  fact.  The  Council,  says  the  Civllta 
Cattolica^  c  may  enact  dogmatic  decrees  or  disciplinary 
regulations  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  modern  times.' 
The  probability  is  only  too  apparent ;  and  the  Civilta 


THE   TEMPORAL   POWER    OF   THE  PAPACY.        255 

Cattolica  answers  by  anticipation  the  enquiry — What, 
then,  will  the  civil  governments  have  to  say  to  the 
Decrees  of  the  Vatican  Council?  Will  they  venture 
upon  maintaining  the  majesty  of  law  in  their  respec- 
tive countries  at  the  risk  of  doing  violence  to  the  con- 
sciences of  their  Roman  Catholic  subjects  ?  c  If  they  do,5 
says  this  organ  of  the  Vatican,  c  they  will  stand  guilty 
of  criminal  tyranny,  and  their  opposition  must  be 
treated  by  the  bishops  with  contempt/  And  again, 
c  All  laws  contrary  to  the  Decrees  of  the  Council 
will  be  radically  null  and  void,  and  will  in  no  way 
compel  the  consciences  of  their  subjects.'  Here  we 
have  the  very  spirit  of  the  Bull  Ccena  Domini,  the 
theory  of  which  survives  and  flourishes  more  vigorous 
than  ever. 

The  erection  of  a  dogma  for  the  belief  of  the  neces- 
sity for  the  Pope's  temporal  power  is  assuredly  one  that 
may  be  embraced  in  the  elastic  formulary  of  c  decrees 
contrary  to  the  spirit  of  modern  times.'  Further,  it  is 
declared  in  the  Syllabus  that  all  Catholics  are  bound  to 
hold  most  firmly  that  doctrine  concerning  the  Pontiff's 
civil  princedom  which  is  therein  clearly  laid  down. 
The  necessity  is  there  affirmed  for  the  temporal  power 
to  secure  the  Pope  that  liberty  which  is  required  for  his 
spiritual  office;  that  it  is  ordered  by  Divine  Pro- 
vidence; that  all  Catholics  are  bound  to  unite  against 
every  effort  to  overthrow  it ;  that  the  aggressive  acts  of 
its  assailants  are  de  jure  null  and  void ;  and  that  the 
spoliation  of  the  Roman  territory  by  Victor  Emanuel 
was  nefarious  and  sacrilegious.  The  definition  of  this 
dogma  is,  however,  improbable  to  the  last  degree. 
However  anxious  the  Roman  curia  may  be  to  secure 
the   preservation    of    the  temporal    authority   of  the 


256  THE    TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

Pontiff,  it  can  hardly  be  affirmed  to  furnish  the  ele- 
ments of  a  dogma.  Civil  society,  moreover,  tolerant 
of  the  discussion  of  doctrinal  and  disciplinarian  ques- 
tions, could  not  afford  to  overlook  a  decision  pregnant 
with  danger,  and  arrogantly  disregarding  accomplished 
facts.  At  the  same  time  it  is  apparent  that  a  grave 
discussion  of  the  question  might  afford  the  Jesuits  an 
opportunity,  of  which  they  would  gladly  avail  them- 
selves, to  divert  and  perhaps  disintegrate  the  opposi- 
tion by  the  introduction  of  a  topic  upon  which  they 
may  be  beguiled  into  fierce  controversy,  prolific  of 
rancour  and  dissension.  In  this  sense  the  Roman  cor- 
respondent of  the  Times  has  recently  remarked :  c  Upon 
this  matter  of  the  temporal  estate  there  are  few  bishops, 
even  among  the  foremost  in  the  present  opposition, 
who  have  not  committed  themselves  in  a  manner  some, 
no  doubt,  would  now  gladly  know  undone,  but  from 
which  others  (and  they  are  the  more  numerous)  will 
hardly  dare  to  recede.  Many  a  hasty  and  unfounded 
word  has  fallen  at  times  from  episcopal  lips  on  this 
matter  of  temporal  power  which  at  this  moment 
threatens  to  hang  like  a  millstone  around  the  speaker's 
neck;  for  now  that  things  are  being  pushed  to  their 
logical  end,  and  men  on  being  driven  into  a  corner 
have  at  last  to  make  a  stand,  it  will  be  found  that 
between  the  tenets  of  Papal  Infallibility  and  the  Pope's 
indefeasible  right  to  a  Temporal  Power  there  is  inter- 
nal affinity  and  correlation.  If,  therefore,  at  this 
moment,  when  a  truly  formidable  opposition  has  formed 
itself  against  the  dogma  of  Infallibility,  the  coherence  of 
this  opposing  phalanx  could  be  loosened  by  the  intro- 
duction on  the  scene  of  that  other  tenet,  the  Temporal 
Power,  with  the  creation  of  a  divergence  of  opinions 


XIV.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  257 

and  the  production  of  dissensions,  the  move  would  be 
strategically  a  very  good  one  in  the  interests  of  those 
who  have  the  chief  voice  in  directing  the  business  of 
the  Council.5  It  is  indeed  broadly  asserted  in  the 
Schema  de  Ecclesia  Christi,  to  which  I  shall  presently  have 
occasion  to  refer,  that  the  connection  between  the 
Temporal  and  the  Spiritual  Estate  of  the  Holy  See,  is 
one  c  prescribed  by  the  law  of  God/  from  which  none 
can  deviate  without  risk  of  salvation,  and  that  it  is  not 
lawful  for  any  one  to  assert  that  the  lay  authority  is 
called  upon  to  restrict  coercive  measures  against  the 
violators  of  the  Catholic  faith  to  that  which  may  be 
only  requisite  for  the  maintenance  of  the  public  peace  *. 
But  it  is  probable  that  the  Council  will  content  itself 
with  an  imposing  protest,  after  the  model  of  those  of 
1862  and  1867,  against  the  spoliations  endured  by  the 
Pope  contra  sacrilegos  ausus  et  conatus  guberni  subal- 
pinii,  &c. 

The  theological  bearings  of  the  Council  are  beyond 
our  sphere.  Their  exposition  in  the  daily  papers  may 
be  read  ad  nauseam,  and  those  who  desire  to  see  them 
arraigned  with  the  bitterness  proper  to  polemical  strife, 
may  be  abundantly  edified  from  the  same  source,  from 
platform,  pulpit,  the  hustings,  or  wherever  men  do 
congregate.  True  to  our  motto,  then,  we  will  review 
c  lightly  and  on  tiptoe5  these  topics  with  which  the 
subject  of  this  treatise  has  but  slender  affinity,  although 
such  as  cannot  be  wholly  ignored. 

The  dogmatic  definition  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Cor- 
poreal Assumption  of  the  Virgin — to  which  the  Tablet 
has  added  the  Assumption  of  St.  Joseph,  the  third  Person 
of  the  earthly  Trinity,  as  it  profanely  calls  him — is  the 

1  See  letter  of  Times  correspondent  already  quoted. 
S 


258  THE   TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

natural  sequence  of  the  c  honours'  already  rendered  by 
Pius  IX  to  the  mother  of  our  Lord.  The  Commission 
of  Dogmatic  Theology  has  by  a  large  and  decisive 
majority  pronounced  in  favour  of  the  definition,  and 
effective  opposition  is  not  anticipated  from  any  quarter. 

The  great  question  of  the  Syllabus,  cthe  banner  of 
retrogression'  as  it  was  termed  the  other  day  in  the 
Italian  Chamber,  is  one  upon  which  the  docility  of 
the  assembled  Fathers  will  be  severely  tried.  It  is 
well  known  that  the  errors  which  the  Pope  lays 
down  as  worthy  of  condemnation,  are  enunciated  in 
the  decrees  of  Councils  held  by  all  Christendom  to 
have  been  CEcumenical,  which,  on  the  Roman  theory, 
involves  their  infallibility.  The  Syllabus  was  not  com- 
posed all  at  once  in  1864,  but  consists  of  condem- 
nations of  modern  principles,  emanating  as  well  from 
other  Infallibles  as  from  the  present  Pontiff.  Pre- 
eminently it  raises  the  question  of  the  infallible 
authority  of  the  Church,  in  whom  it  resides,  and  with 
what  limits.  It  is  a  code  which  regulates  the  relations 
of  the  court  of  Rome  with  civil  society.  It  raises 
amongst  other  questions,  too  numerous  to  specify,  that 
of  the  validity  of  civil  marriages  ;  of  the  connection  of 
Church  and  State;  of  the  right  of  the  ecclesiastical 
power  to  exercise  its  authority  without  the  permission 
and  assent  of  the  civil  governments.  Hence  the  lively 
apprehension  evinced  by  the  civil  powers,  and  by 
prelates  such  as  the  Archbishop  of  Paris,  habituated 
to  the  liberty  enjoyed  under  a  Concordat  wrung  from 
Rome  when  she  was  anxious,  upon  any  terms^  to  gain  a 
footing  in  a  country  where  religion  had  ceased  to  exist 
— a  liberty  not  shared  by  any  other  Catholic  country. 

It   is   now   well   known    that,   exasperated    by   the 


XIV 


.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  2^9 


threatened  promulgation  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Syllabus, 
the  Government  of  Louis  Napoleon  intimated  to  the 
Roman  curia,  before  the  close  of  last  year,  that  how- 
ever great  the  reverence  which  his  Imperial  Majesty 
might  feel  for  the  spiritual  authority  of  the  Holy  See, 
the  Papal  pretensions  and  the  narrow  system  of  abso- 
lutism upon  which  the  temporal  power  was  conducted, 
could  not  command  the  sympathy  of  a  constitutional 
country.  Studiously  avoiding  any  threat  of  coercion, 
but  at  the  same  time  significantly  reminding  Pius  IX 
that  the  recall  of  the  French  troops  c  is  with  his  Govern- 
ment a  settled  purpose,'  the  Emperor  besought  the 
c  benevolent'  Pontiff  to  have  recurrence  to  the  liberal 
ideas  proclaimed  by  him  in  1846 — in  other  words,  to 
emulate  the  reforms  now  inaugurated  by  his  Imperial 
monitor  K 

1  The  Roman  correspondent  of  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette,  writing 
on  March  10,  says:— 'Count  Daru  has  charged  the  Marquis  de 
Banneville  to  press  again  on  Cardinal  Antonelli  the  necessity  of 
an  entire  reform  of  the  Pontifical  Government  and  the  granting 
of  a  constitution  to  the  Roman  people.  The  French  ambassador 
declares  that  both  England  and  Prussia  urge  the  Emperor  to 
make  these  demands,  and  that  the  Imperial  Government  will  be 
unable  to  continue  the  occupation  if  they  are  not  promptly  com- 
plied with.  Several  French  bishops,  in  obedience  to  commands 
from  the  Tuileries,  have  supported  the  ambassador's  counsels, 
and  among  these  prelates  is  the  Bishop  of  Bayeux,  to  whom 
Count  Daru  addressed  his  two  famous  letters.  But  the  Pope, 
guided  entirely  by  the  Jesuits  and  the  Ultramontane  camarilla, 
has  resolved  to  meet  the  propositions  of  the  French  minister 
with  a  peremptory  refusal.  Many  of  the  cardinals  and  prelates 
are  in  favour  of  concession,  and  express  a  belief  that  the  Holy 
Father  must  ultimately  yield.  I  must  not  omit  to  add  that 
the  Marquis  de  Banneville  also  asks  for  a  general  amnesty  for 
political  offenders.     The  French  Government  is  believed  to  have 

S  % 


260  THE    TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

c  The  Catholic  religion/  Pius  IX  recently  said  at  the 
inauguration  of  the  Exposition,  c  loves  and  cherishes 
all  the  arts  of  true  progress  instead  of  opposing  them.'' 
Such  a  declaration  was  calculated  to  lead  the  unreflect- 
ing to  anticipate  a  favourable  reply  to  the  missive  of 
the  Protector  of  the  Papacy.  That  reply  was  in  two 
kinds,  the  one  addressed  by  Antonelli  to  the  Tuileries, 
the  other,  through  the  columns  of  the  Civilta  Cattolka^ 
to  the  Catholic  world ;  and  it  is  instructive  to  note  the 
customary  duplicity  of  all  that  emanates  from  Rome, 
providing  for  a  specious  show  of  consistency  in  the 
ultimate  adoption  of  that  course  which  may  appear  the 
more  expedient.  The  diplomatist  replies  that  the 
abolition  of  the  reforms  of  1847  was  justified  on  the 
ground  that  concessions  had  been  shown  to  weaken  the 
hands  of  authority  and  open  the  way  to  revolution  and 
anarchy;  that  to  grant  reforms  would  be  to  give 
weapons  to  an  enemy;  and  that  his  Holiness  has 
profited  by  the  warnings  conveyed  in  the  agitation 
that  has  followed  the  change  of  government  in  Austria, 
Spain,  and  France.  But  that  if  the  Holy  See  could  put 
an  end  to  the  dream  of  Italian  unity  by  recovering  its 

fixed  on  Duke  Albert  De  Broglie  as  its  lay  representative  at  the 
Council.  It  would  be  difficult  to  choose  an  ambassador  more 
distasteful  to  the  court  of  Rome ;  and  the  views  held  at  the 
Vatican  about  the  duke  are  embodied  in  a  most  abusive  article 
by  Monsignor  Nardi,  in  a  late  number  of  the  Osservatore  Cattolico 
of  Milan.  I  am  assured  that  the  Pope  was  pointing  at  the  Duke 
De  Broglie,  when,  in  his  speech  at  the  Exhibition,  he  said  that 
the  Church  would  never  have  its  '89.  The  Pope  has  intimated 
that  he  will  receive  no  more  addresses  on  the  subject  of  Infalli- 
bility, whether  they  favour  or  oppose  the  dogma,  as  this  question 
is  now  virtually  before  the  Council,  and  his  reception  of  addresses 
might  interfere  with  the  deliberations  of  the  Fathers.' 


XIV.]  OF   THE   PAP AC Y.  26 1 

lost  possessions,  then  political  reforms  might  be  pos- 
sible. Widely  different  is  the  reply  addressed  to  Catholics 
through  the  Pope's  own  organ.  Here  it  is  contended 
that  the  principles  denounced  in  the  Syllabus  are  the 
principles  which  inspired  the  reforms  with  which  the 
Pontificate  of  Pius  IX  was  inaugurated,  and  which  won 
for  him  the  name  of  the  c  Benevolent  Pontiff/  He 
never  changed  from  what  he  began,  and  when  Napoleon 
exhorts  him  to  return  to  the  counsels  of  1847,  he 
commits  himself  to  an  approval  of  the  Syllabus.  The 
following  remarks  of  the  Times  correspondent  (20th 
February)  place  in  a  clear  light  the  argument  for 
consistency  put  forward  by  Rome: — 

cIn  the  very  infancy  of  his  Pontificate,  it  seems, 
Pius  IX  exposed  the  great  league  of  unbelief  called 
Rationalists,  who  repudiate  the  light  of  supernatural 
faith,  and  give  the  supremacy  to  proud  reason  and  the 
dictates  of  nature.  It  was  then  he  raised  his  voice 
against  all  private  interpretation  of  the  Word  of  God 
in  contempt  of  the  only  legitimate,  infallible  authority 
of  the  Church  of  Christ  and  His  Vicar,  the  Pontiff. 
Nor  was  it  to  religion  and  Scripture  and  the  Dogma 
that  the  Pope  confined  himself.  He  denounced  the 
impiety  which  disregarded  the  laws  of  the  Church, 
but,  not  less,  all  contempt  of  rights  and  lawful  civil 
authority.  His  predecessors  had  already  laid  their 
anathema  on  the  secret  societies  vomited  forth  from 
the  regions  of  darkness  for  the  ruin  of  Church  and 
State.  Pius  IX,  it  seems,  singled  out  for  his  own 
special  anathemas  the  Bible  Societies  instituted  by 
heretics  for  the  spread  of  their  secret  poison.  Under 
the  same  ban  he  laid  religious  indifference,  the  oppo- 
sition to  religious  celibacy,  and  the  establishment  of 


262  THE   TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

a  soul-destroying  philosophy  under  the  pretence  of 
education.  It  was  then  he  warned,  the  faithful  against 
the  pernicious  tracts  sown  broadcast  by  wicked  hands, 
and,  in  a  word,  all  free  thoughts,  free  speech,  and, 
above  all,  the  free  Press.  Certainly  it  is  not  amiss 
the  world  should  be  reminded  that  it  was  Pope  Pius  IX 
who  did  all  this;  that  he  did  it  when  he  was,  so  to 
speak,  a  child  of  the  people,  and  that  it  passed  with 
scarcely  animadversion — nay  more,  that  the  bare  fact 
may  be  almost  said  to  be  forgotten. 

c  But  the  Pope's  apologists  are  not  content  with  the 
natural  inference  that  he  was  always  the  same  man 
that  he  is  now ;  they  must  also  establish  a  splendid  and 
elaborate  unity  of  design.  It  is  a  policy  that  is  to  be 
defended,  and  the  world  is  triumphantly  asked  why  it 
interferes  too  late  with  the  completion  of  the  edifice  it 
has  had  the  opportunity  of  watching  from  the  very 
foundations,  and  seen  slowly  rising  story  after  story 
in  a  Pontificate  providentially  prolonged  for  this  very 
work.  As  it  is  a  question  that  concerns  France  a  good 
deal  more  than  ourselves,  I  need  not  hesitate  to  assist 
the  Pope  and  his  privileged  champions  in  putting  it 
well  before  the  world.  It  appears  that  as  early  as 
November,  1846,  the  Pope  condemned  the  Proposition 
numbered  the  fourth  in  the  Syllabus,  and  then,  or 
shortly  after,  expressed  himself  in  like  manner  as  to 
the  Propositions  numbered  sixth,  seventh,  sixteenth, 
fortieth,  and  sixty-third  in  the  Syllabus.  But  the  fourth 
paragraph  is  simply  a  quotation  in  extenso  from  the 
earlier  document,  and  various  letters  and  allocutions 
from  January  to  December,  1847,  are  referred  to,  the 
titles  given,  in  order  to  prove  that  the  Syllabus  and, 
consequently,  the  Propositions  now  before  the  CEcu«* 


XIV.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  263 

menical  Council  were  all  anticipated,  more  or  less 
literally,  on  or  before  the  very  year  1847  now  brought 
into  question.  When,  therefore,  Napoleon  III  asks 
the  Pope  to  return  to  the  counsels  of  1847,  it  is 
nothing  more  nor  less  than  advising  him  to  return 
to  the  Syllabus  —  a  most  needless  piece  of  advice, 
inasmuch  as  the  Vicar  of  Jesus  Christ  has  never  de- 
parted from  those  counsels,  and  is  not  likely  to  depart 
from  them.  If,  too,  it  be  said  that  all  this  refers  only 
to  religious  principles,  not  to  those  relating  to  temporal 
matters,  and  that  Pius  IX  has  certainly  somewhat  de- 
parted from  his  first  temporal  policy,  and  has  shown  a 
want  of  fixed  principles,  an  answer  is  at  hand,  these 
writers  inform  us.  In  the  first  month  of  1847  M. 
Guizot  wrote  a  series  of  despatches  to  the  French 
Minister  at  the  court  of  Rome,  bringing  before  the 
newly-elected  Pope  certain  articles  agreed  upon  by  the 
five  European  Powers  in  1831,  with  a  view  to  the  im- 
provement of  the  Papal  Government.  Pius  IX  entered 
heartily  into  the  programme,  and  immediately  upon  his 
coronation  had  the  entire  series  of  papers  collected, 
with  all  the  appended  documents,  and  these  he  kept 
in  his  own  room  in  the  Quirinal,  with  his  private 
papers,  intending  to  make  the  fullest  use  of  them. 
When,  however,  he  was  driven  into  exile,  these  papers, 
with  many  others,  were  stolen  and  dispersed  or  de- 
stroyed. The  Pope  had  made  no  secret  of  his  reason 
for  collecting  the  papers,  said  to  have  been  very  bulky, 
and  lumbering  his  private  room  with  them.  His 
intention  was  to  study  them  diligently,  and  by  their 
light  to  give  to  the  Pontifical  Government  that  com- 
pletion which  he  felt  it  still  needed.  Of  course,  it  is  a 
great  pity  that  the  loss  of  these  papers  should  have 

UNIVERSITY 


264  THE   TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

entirely  stopped  for  twenty  years  ail  reform  at  the 
Holy  See;  but,  for  the  present,  I  will  return  to  the 
Syllabus,  and  its  growth  from  the  sapling  of  1847  to 
the  GEcumenical  Council  of  1870.  The  present  argu- 
ment worked  out  elaborately  before  us  that  if  the  world 
stood  by  quietly  and  watched  with  approving  smiles  the 
first  inception,  the  scattered  anticipation,  and  the  slow 
progress  of  this  enormous  design,  it  has  no  reason  to 
interfere  with  the  final  execution.  The  argument  is 
addressed,  of  course,  to  those  who  are  directly  con- 
cerned in  the  result,  and  who  also  had  the  power 
always  in  their  hands.  Why  did  they  let  the  work  go 
on  towards  its  evil  and  bitter  end  ?  But  the  argument 
is  still  liable  to  the  rejoinder — If  all  that  comes  of 
allowing  Pius  IX  to  begin  as  he  did,  and  go  on  as  he 
did,  what  in  the  world  will  not  come  of  letting  him 
work  it  out  to  the  very  end  of  all  ?' 

The  famous  despatch  of  Count  Daru  of  the  1 8th  of 
February,  and  the  subsequent  claim  of  the  Emperor's 
Government  to  send  an  envoy  to  the  Council  are  the 
consistent  steps  of  a  policy  the  ultimate  object  of  which 
must  soon  be  placed  beyond  the  realm  of  conjecture. 
It  is  said  that  Count  Daru  is  the  only  member  of  the 
Imperial  Government  who  desires  to  assert  the  claim 
of  direct  representation  at  the  Council,  and  that  the 
result  of  the  further  deliberations  of  the  Cabinet  will  be 
the  withdrawal  of  the  demand  l.     By  this  means  the 

1  The  Journal  of  Geneva  recently  published  an  analysis  of  the 
note  addressed  by  Count  Daru  to  the  Vatican,  and  of  Antonelli's 
reply.  According  to  this  journal,  Count  Daru's  despatch  does 
not  touch  upon  the  question  of  the  Pope's  infallibility  so  lightly 
as  was  supposed.  He  claims  for  the  French  Government  the 
right  of  being  heard  in  the  discussion  of  matters  of  a  mixed 


XIV.]  OF    THE  PAPACY.  265 

threatening  rupture  with  Rome  may  be  averted ;  but  it 
is  instructive  to  note  the  grounds  upon  which  the 
Ultramontane  press  disallows  the  claims  of  France.  c  At 
the  Council  of  Trent,'  says  the  Tablet,  c  the  ambassa- 
dors represented  Catholic  sovereigns  and  stable  govern- 
ments, whereas  now  there  is  not  a  Catholic  government 
in  Europe — since  Jews,  Protestants,  and  Atheists  may 
be  members  of  any  of  them/  Quoting  with  approval 
similar  remarks  from  the  Pays,  the  Tablet  cannot  be- 
lieve that  the  French  Government  can  persist  in  offering 
counsels  to.  the  Head  of  the  Church,  or  authorize  any 
kind  of  ambassadorial  agent  to  present  himself  in  its 
name,  c  in  order  to  talk  Latin  to  the  Council.'  The 
Cabinet,  the  Tablet  thinks,  will  content  itself  with 
having  made  a  blunder,  and  will  not  persist  in  convert- 
ing it  into  a  fault.  But  if  France  remains  obdurate, 
let  her  know  that  a  French  envoy,  talking  against  the 
Syllabus,  c  would  be  disarmed  by  the  smiles  of  his 
audience,  and  feel  himself  crushed  with  ridicule  under 
a  sense  of  his  own  presumption!' 

character,  but  does  not  insist  upon  it  to  the  extent  allowed  at  the 
Council  of  Trent.  The  French  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs 
says  that  the  Government  would  be  satisfied  to  have  a  French 
bishop  explaining  in  the  Council  the  condition  and  the  rights  of 
the  country ;  and  he  concludes  by  proposing  a  modification  of 
the  programme  of  the  Council  in  the  above  sense,  even  if  it 
should  be  found  necessary  to  prorogue  the  Council.  Count 
Daru's  despatch  does  not  make  any  threat  in  the  event  of  a 
refusal  being  received  from  the  Vatican.  Cardinal  Antonelli,  in 
his  reply,  represents  that  a  bishop  could  not  reconcile  the  double 
duties  of  an  ambassador  and  a  Father  of  the  Council.  Neverthe- 
less he  does  not  decline  to  receive  observations  from  France 
before  the  discussion  on  any  particular  question,  but  neither  can 
he  undertake  that  the  recommendations  which  may  be  given  will 
be  adopted. 


266  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [cHAP. 

But  the  Syllabus,  as  interpreted  by  the  articles  De 
Romano  Vontipce,  contains  in  its  eighty  propositions  the 
germ  of  almost  every  dogma  to  be  submitted  to  the 
Council,  not  excepting  the  Pope's  secular  right  to  the 
temporal  estate.  It  would  identify  the  constitution  of 
the  Church  with  a  particular  domestic  establishment, 
c  notoriously  the  stone  of  permanent  offence  to  the 
unity  of  Italy,  and  thereby  to  the  secular  peace  of  a 
most  important  part  of  Catholic  Europe.'  The  elabo- 
rate tissue  of  dogmatic  propositions ,  composing  this 
document,  upon  which  it  is  sought  to  set  the  final  seal 
of  authority,  are  framed  to  secure  to  the  powerful  party 
now  dominant  in  Rome  the  retention  of  their  power, 
and  to  stifle  the  uprising  of  a  contrary  influence.  Very 
suggestive  upon  this  point  is  the  following  proposition 
bearing  upon  the  question  of  the  day : — '  The  govern- 
ment of  the  public  schools  in  a  Christian  State  cannot 
belong,  and  ought  not  to  belong,  to  the  civil  authority.' 
These — and  not  simply  questions  bearing  upon  the 
minute  points  of  ecclesiastical  discipline  cunningly 
brought  into  prominence  in  the  Syllabus — are  matters 
upon  which  the  Council  cannot  avoid  the  responsibility 
of  discussion.  c  It  is  more  probable,'  says  a  writer  in 
the  Pall  Mall  Gazette,  cthat  the  bishops  will  be  re- 
quested to  sanction  it  in  the  complex  by  an  open  and 
unanimous  adhesion,  and  to  explain  in  detail  such  of 
the  condemnations  as  are  obscurely  worded  or  errone- 
ously interpreted  by  the  public.  Such  is  said  to  have 
been  the  advice  of  the  majority  of  the  consultors  of  the 
Commission  for  politico-ecclesiastical  affairs.' 

Whilst  these  pages  are  passing  through  the  press,  in- 
telligence reaches  us  of  the  c  unanimous '  voting  of  the 
first  Schema  de  Fide,  on  the  nth  of  April.    According  to 


XIV.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  26 J 

the  official  journal  of  Rome,  515  bishops  voted  for  the 
schema  unreservedly,  and  83  conditionally.  The  Ultra- 
montane press  is  triumphant,  and  wisely  reticent  con- 
cerning the  100  bishops  now  in  Rome  who  were 
conspicuous  by  their  absence  from  the  division. 

The  Jesuits  have  undoubtedly  achieved  a  triumph 
greater  than  they  could  have  anticipated,  and  at  which 
they  have  some  right  to  be  jubilant.  But,  amid  the 
vociferous  applause  with  which  it  is  communicated  to 
the  world,  it  is  well  that  we  should  realize  what, 
stripped  of  the  trappings  of  polemical  bedizenment, 
this  success  really  means.  It  is  simply  this,  that  nearly 
five  months  of  debate  in  the  Council,  which  the  Civllta 
Cattolka  prognosticated  would  be  of  as  short  duration 
as  that  of  Chalcedon,  has  produced  the  nett  result  of 
carrying  one  of  the  fifty-three  schemata  on  the  Council 
programme,  and  that  only  in  the  extremely  modified 
form  imparted  to  it  by  Cardinal  Bilio's  committee,  in 
deference  to  the  strictures  of  the  opposition  in  the 
preliminary  discussions. 

That  the  entire  Constitution  de  Vide  will  now  be 
carried  no  longer  admits  of  doubt.  But  the  tones  of 
Pius  IX,  while  gladdening  the  hearts  of  the  Ultramon- 
tane bishops,  as  he  pronounces  these  deplorable  articles 
of  the  Syllabus  to  be  the  law  of  the  Church,  will  pro- 
nounce the  final  severance  of  Rome,  with  her  intolerable 
pretensions,  from  the  current  of  modern  thought — the 
divorce,  final  and  complete,  between  reason  and  faith. 

The  Consitution  de  Vide  consists  of  eighteen  canons, 
distributed  under  four  articles : — Of  God,  the  Creator  of 
all  things ;  Of  Revelation ;  Of  Faith ;  and  Of  Faith  and 
Reason.  The  first  pronounces  the  curse  of  the  Church 
upon  all  those  who  encounter  metaphysical  difficulties 


268  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

in  their  conception  of  the  Creator.  c  If  any  one  shall 
say  finite  things  as  well  corporeal  as  spiritual,  or  at 
least  the  spiritual,  have  emanated  from  the  Divine 
substance,  let  him  be  anathema.'  How  many  simple 
God-fearing  souls  will  be  consigned  to  perdition  for 
their  c  damnable  error5  of  failing  rightly  to  comprehend 
the  mystery  of  creation, — c  the  Lord  breathed  into  his 
nostrils  the  breath  of  life,  and  man  became  a  living 
soul?' 

The  second  article  anathematizes  all  those  who 
reject  as  uncanonical  cthe  whole  books  of  Holy  Scrip- 
ture, with  all  their  parts,  as  set  forth  by  the  Council  of 
Trent,  or  deny  that  they  are  divinely  inspired,' — the 
legend  of  Bel  and  the  Dragon,  introducing  us  to  cthe 
company  of  the  priests  with  their  wives  and  children^ 
and  the  licentious  story  of  Susanna  and  the  Elders 
included. 

The  third  article  reiterates  the  curses  of  the  Church 
upon  all  such  as  receive  the  doctrine  of  justification  by 
faith.     And 

The  fourth  pronounces  anathema  upon  those  who 
accept  the  teachings  of  science  when  in  seeming  op- 
position to  revelation,  or  'to  the  sense  which  the 
Church  has  always  attributed  to  dogmas.' 

The  period  for  the  discussion  of  the  great  question 
draws  on  apace.  The  papers  referring  to  the  Schema 
Deuxmano  Fontifice,  embracing  the  question  of  Papal 
Infallibility,  will,  it  is  said,  be  distributed  to  the 
Fathers  immediately  after  the  promulgation  of  the 
Constitution  de  Fide.  Then  we  shall  learn  the  real 
strength  of  the  opposition, — whether  their  courage  has 
evaporated  in  words,  or,  being  heaven-born,  will  brave 
the  consequences  of  earnest  and  conscientious  protest. 


XIV.]  OF    THE   PAPACY.  269 

But  it  is  easy  to  perceive  that,  with  the  present  organi- 
zation of  the  hierarchy,  it  is  a  hopeless  undertaking  for  a 
few,  or  even  for  many  bishops,  to  resist  the  programme 
of  the  Jesuits,  supported  by  the  supreme  head  of  the 
Church  with  all  the  authority  with  which  his  Apostolic 
chair  is  now  surrounded. 

The  Church  of  Rome  ascribes  many  of  her  misfor- 
tunes to  the  want  of  accurate  definitions.  Such  is  the 
justification  put  forward  for  the  present  Council,  and 
for  the  great  dogma  which,  in  some  form  or  other,  will 
doubtless  be  promulgated.  The  success  with  which,  in 
former  ages,  the  Church  has  addressed  itself  to  the 
settlement  of  complicated  theological  and  speculative 
questions,  encourages  the  Jesuits  to  make  light  of  the 
quicksands  amongst  which  they  are  now  moving.  They 
are  as  buoyant  with  hope  as  are  those  c  perfidious 
enemies '  of  the  Pope  that  hail  the  infatuation  of  the 
men  who  will  c  cause  the  Papacy  to  stultify  itself 
beyond  all  cure.' 

Speculation  upon  the  vicissitudes  of  this  great  question 
would  be  profitless  and  tedious,  and  it  is  unnecessary  to 
review  the  history  of  a  controversy  which  has  been 
brought  to  the  foreground  of  all  discussion  upon  the 
proceedings  of  the  Council. 

The  Fathers  of  the  Council  demand  freedom  of  speech, 
and  the  Pope  has  recently  declared  that  he  did  not 
wish  any  bishop  to  return  to  his  diocese  c  without 
having  said  all  that  he  thought  it  his  duty  to  say/  The 
spirit  of  independence  which  is  developing  itself  in  the 
very  bosom  of  the  assembled  episcopate  is  reflected  by, 
or  is  perhaps  itself  the  reflection  of,  the  same  spirit  in 
their  flocks  out  of  doors.  In  rapid  succession,  the  most 
important  towns  of  Germany  have  declared  themselves 


270  THE   TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

against  the  dogma  of  Infallibility.  Bonn,  Breslau,  and 
Cologne  have  united  with  ultramontane  Wurzburg,  and 
the  not  less  ultra-Roman  laity  of  the  city  of  Munich,  in 
doing  honour  to  the  courageous  and  orthodox  theo- 
logian, Dr.  Dollinger,  for  his  fearless  advocacy  of 
Catholic  freedom,  whilst  the  King  of  Prussia  has  ad- 
dressed to  him  an  autograph  letter  thanking  him  for 
those  manly  theses  in  which  he  demolished  Rome's 
pretensions  to  infallibility. 

Will  that  freedom  of  debate  upon  this  crucial  ques- 
tion, claimed  by  the  bishops7  and  in  words  conceded  by 
the  Pope,  be  allowed  ?  There  are  unmistakable  indica- 
tions that  anything  like  free  discussion  will  be  sup- 
pressed; and  the  so-called  deliberations  of  the  Council, 
however  protracted,  will  issue  in  the  formal  registering 
of  the  dogma,  enunciated,  like  that  of  1854,  on  the 
sole  responsibility  of  Pius  IX.  Few  will  be  found  to 
emulate  the  temerity  of  those  who  have  presumed  to 
avail  themselves  of  the  promised  liberty  of  debate. 

The  following  warning  which  has  recently  appeared 
in  the  Civilta  Cattolka^  the  infallible  echo  of  Vatican 
law,  might  well  disturb  the  equanimity  of  the  most 
resolute  of  prelates.  c  What/  it  asks,  c  is  the  Pope  in 
relation  to  the  episcopate  in  council  assembled?  As 
the  successor  of  Peter,  he  is,  according  to  Scripture,  the 
corner-stone  of  the  Church,  the  possessor  of  the  keys  of 
heaven,  the  shepherd  of  the  flock  of  Christ.  According 
to  the  Council  of  Lyons  he  is  the  guide  of  the  Univer- 
sal Church ;  according  to  that  of  Florence,  he  is  the 

head,  the  master,  the  father  of  all  Christianity 

These  are  the  relations  between  the  Pope  and  the 
Church,  whether  the  latter  be  considered  in  its 
isolated  and  special  groups,  or  as  a  whole,  in  corpore,  or 


XIV.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  <ZJI 

in  council.  What,  then,  tell  us  these  relations  be- 
tween Pope  and  Church  in  their  special  groups  or  in 
council?  Supreme  authority  and  subjection: — the 
former  vested  in  the  Pope,  the  latter  the  part  of  the  assembly 
of  the  bishops  /'  c  No  doubt/  observes  a  writer  in  the 
Pall  Mall  Gazette , c  liberty  of  speech  is  an  indispensable 
prerogative  of  any  council  not  a  sham  •  but  to  those 
who  reckon  on  the  warrant  of  sacred  right  to  secure 
them  against  despotic  encroachments  by  a  holy  Father, 
we  would  recount  a  little  fact  that  happened  in  1854. 
There  was  then  also  a  question  of  promulgating  a 
dogma,  very  dear  to  the  heart  of  its  promoters,  and  the 
bishops  had  been  worked  assiduously  as  now,  until  they 
were  all  as  soft  as  butter.  There  was  then  also  a  so- 
called  deliberative  assembly,  professing  gravely  and 
conscientiously  to  discuss  pros  and  cons,  the  conclusion 
being  all  the  while  foregone.  And,  moreover,  there 
was  then  in  Rome  one,  Abbe  Laborde,  who  was  in- 
nocent enough  to  believe  words  were  meant  to  be 
taken  at  their  sense,  and  accordingly  begged  to  be 
allowed  to  state,  not  at  all  his  dissent  from,  but  merely 
the  grounds  on  which  he  desired  further  argument  in 
behalf  of,  the  proposed  dogma.  Abbe  Laborde  received 
the  following  reply.  He  was  then  and  there  taken 
neck  and  crop  and  forcibly  expelled  from  Rome  i.1 

1  The  Pall  Mall  Gazette  gives  the  following  account  of  a 
'scene'  enacted  at  the  latest  sitting  of  the  Council:— '  The 
amenities  of  debate  were,  perhaps,  not  too  closely  observed ;  at 
any  rate,  two  right  rev.  Fathers,  Cardinal  Schwarzenberg  and 
Monsignor  Strossmayer,  were  "  called  to  order."  Until  we  have 
had  an  authoritative  denial  of  the  incident,  there  can  be  no  harm 
in  saying  that,  according  to  our  correspondent,  the  cardinal 
attacked  the  revised  scheme  De  Fide,  especially  denouncing  the 
canons  which  anathematized  Protestants  as  contrary  to  the  spirit 


272  THE    TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

Already  the  original  regulations  of  the  Council, 
which  afforded  too  much  scope  for  the  dangerous 
eloquence  and  excessive  earnestness  of  the  opposition, 
have  been  modified  by  a  decree  requiring  the  Fathers  to 
present  in  writing  to  the  Commissions  any  objections 
which  they  wish  to  urge.  The  substance  of  these  objec- 
tions will  then  be  laid  before  the  Council  by  the  Com- 
missions, and  the  debate  strictly  limited  to  their  defence 
or  refutation.  Further,  when  the  Council  shall  decide 
that  any  point  of  doctrine  or  discipline  has  been  suffi- 
ciently discussed,  the  vote  upon  it  will  be  taken  at  once, 
the  Fathers  being  allowed  to  express  their  opinion 
simply  by  votes  of  placet  and  non  placet.  The  Pope  has 
been  much  annoyed  at  the  protracted  debates  upon 
schemata  which  are  preliminary  to  the  grand  issue,  and, 
if  the  Roman  correspondent  of  the  Fall  Mall  Gazette  is 
to  be  credited,  he  has  hit  upon  a  novel  experiment  for 
expediting  the  debates.     He  declares  that  the  Fathers 

of  the  Gospel.  He  eulogized  the  sanctity  and  genius  which 
ennoble  many  Protestants,  and  declared  that  such  men  "  could 
not  be  precipitated  by  words  into  hell."  The  cardinal  is  even 
said  to  have  characterized  the  threats  of  eternal  torment  so  held 
out  as  "  profane  and  impudent."  He  then  thanked  God  that  the 
time  for  these  cursings  between  Catholics  and  Protestants  was 
now  passed,  never  to  return.  The  cardinal  is  reported  to  have 
closed  a  remarkably  vigorous  speech  with  the  declaration  that 
he  longed  to  begin  the  great  work  of  religious  conciliation,  and 
he  frankly  tendered  his  hand  to  those  Protestants  whose  benevo- 
lence and  piety  he  had  so  eloquently  extolled.  The  storm  which 
immediately  arose  in  the  Council  was  not  allayed  when  Monsig- 
nor  Strossmayer  "  ascended  the  tribune,  and,  amid  a  profound 
silence,  delivered  the  most  eloquent  panegyric  on  Protestants 
that  ever  fell  from  a  Catholic  bishop."  A  scene  of  great  con- 
fusion ensued,  and,  as  the  tumult  could  not  be  repressed,  the 
legates  broke  up  the  assembly.' 


XIV.]  OF    THE  PAPACY.  273 

can  only  be  taught  despatch  by  their  stomachs.  The 
other  day  he  said  to  his  household,  c  If  they  are  kept 
without  dinner  till  they  do  something,  you  will  see  how 
quick  the  affairs  of  the  Council  will  proceed.'  Accord- 
ingly, the  supplement  to  the  regulations  is  to  be  further 
supplemented  by  a  decree  that  the  Fathers  are  not  to 
leave  the  Council  Hall  till  they  have  agreed  upon  the 
question  in  debate. 

Such  are  the  tactics  to  which  it  is  found  necessary  to 
resort,  in  order  that  the  doctrines  of  the  Syllabus  shall 
not  be  set  aside  by  an  assembly  in  which  the  Pope  com- 
mands a  large  and  faithful  majority,  made  up  of  Italian, 
Spanish,  and  Missionary  bishops,  and  of  the  Vicars- 
Apostolic,  the  creatures  of  the  Pontiff.  c  Bishops/  said 
Bossuet,  c  are  pastors  in  relation  to  their  people,  but 
sheep  in  relation  to  Peter.' 

In  illustration  of  the  grim  fanaticism,  as  pretentious 
in  the  nineteenth  as  in  the  eleventh  century,  which  in- 
spires the  Roman  curia,  no  apology  is  necessary  for  the 
introduction  of  the  following  series  of  dogmatic  for- 
mulas from  the  Schema  Constitutions  Dogmatics  de  Ecclesia 
Christi,  submitted  to  the  Council  at  its  first  session 
after  Christmas,  and  which  it  is  believed  were  the 
occasion  of  the  intimation  given  by  the  French  Govern- 
ment of  its  inability  to  consider  with  indifference  any 
extreme  resolutions  adopted  by  the  Council.  In  this 
document,  which  forms  a  volume  of  200  pages,  we  have 
presented  the  full  civil  code,  as  conceived  in  the  nine- 
teenth century,  of  a  corporation  claiming,  under  the 
direct  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  to  proclaim  the 
mind  of  Christ,  whose  Church  is  founded  in  love  and 
peace  and  good-will  to  all  mankind.  The  second 
section  of  the  Schema  contains  the  following  twenty-one 


274  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

canons,  expressing  dogmatically  a  series  of  propositions 
previously  developed.  . 

The  Church  of  Christ. 

Canon  I.— Whosoever  says  that  the  religion  of  Christ 
is  not  existing  and  expressed  in  any  community  estab- 
lished by  Christ  Himself,  but  that  it  can  be  rightly 
held  and  exercised  by  each  individual  for  himself,  and 
without  regard  to  any  community  which  constitutes  the 
Church  of  Christ,  let  him  be  anathema. 

Canon  II. — Whosoever  says  the  Church  has  not  re- 
ceived from  Christ  any  positive  and  unchangeable  or- 
ganization, but  that  it  is,  just  like  any  other  human 
community,  mutable  and  transformable  according  to 
the  changes  of  the  times,  let  him  be  anathema. 

Canon  III. — Whosoever  says  the  Church  of  Divine 
Promises  is  not  an  external  and  visible  community, 
but  a  purely  internal  and  invisible  one,  let  him  be 
anathema. 

Canon  IV. — Whosoever  says  that  the  true  Church  is 
not  a  body  in  itself,  but  consists  of  different  and 
dispersed  denominations,  and  is  diffused  throughout 
them  all  •  or  that  the  different  communities  opposed  to 
each  other  in  their  professions  of  faith,  and  divided  in 
their  spirit,  equally  form  members  or  parts  of  the  one 
common  Church  of  Christ,  let  him  be  anathema. 

Canon  V. — Whosoever  says  that  the  Church  of  Christ 
is  not  an  institution  absolutely  necessary  for  reaching 
eternal  happiness,  or  that  men  can  arrive  at  this  bless- 
ing through  the  exercise  of  any  other  kind  of  religion, 
let  him  be  anathema. 

Canon  VI. — Whosoever  says  that  the  authority  with 
which  the   Catholic  Church  proscribes  and   condemns 


XIV.]  OF    THE   PAPACY.  275 

all  religious  sects  separated  from  its  communion  is  not 
prescribed  by  Divine  right  •  or  that  about  religious 
truths  only  opinions,  not  certainties,  can  exist,  and 
that  therefore  all  religious  sects  are  to  be  tolerated,  let 
him  be  anathema. 

Canon  VII. — Whosoever  says  that  this  very  Church 
of  Christ  can  fall  into  darkness  or  error,  and  so  deviate 
from  the  Holy  Truth  in  faith  and  morals,  and  fall  away 
from  its  original  institution  into  depravity  and  corrup- 
tion, let  him  be  anathema. 

Canon  VIII. — Whosoever  says  that  the  present 
Church  of  Christ  in  not  the  last  and  highest  institution 
for  reaching  eternal  happiness,  but  that  there  is  another 
to  be  expected  through  a  new  and  more  complete  effu- 
sion of  the  Holy  Spirit,  let  him  be  anathema. 

Canon  IX. — Whosoever  says  that  the  infallibility  of 
the  Church  is  restricted  only  to  things  contained  in  the 
Divine  Revelation,  but  is  not  extended  to  other  truths 
which  are  necessary  to  the  integral  maintenance  of  the 
Revelation,  let  him  be  anathema. 

Canon  X. — Whosoever  says  that  the  Church  is  not  a 
perfect  institution,  but  merely  a  corporation,  or  that  it 
is  of  such  a  nature,  with  regard  to  civil  society  or  the 
State,  as  to  be  subject  to  temporal  power,  let  him  be 
anathema. 

Canon  XL — Whosoever  says  that  the  Church,  di- 
vinely instituted,  is  like  a  society  of  equals,  and  that 
the  Bishops,  having  offices  and  duties,  possess  no 
governmental  power  bestowed  upon  them  by  Divine 
right  and  which. they  can  freely  exercise,  let  him  be 
anathema. 

Canon  XII.  —  Whosoever  says  that  Christ,  our 
Saviour  and  Sovereign,  has  conferred  upon  the  Church 

t  2 


27^  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

the  power  to  direct  only  by  advice  and  persuasion  those 
who  turn  aside,  not  to  compel  them  by  orders,  by  co- 
ercion, and  by  external  verdicts  and  statutory  punish- 
ments, let  him  be  anathema. 

Canon  XIII. — Whosoever  says  that  the  true  Church  of 
Christ,  out  of  which  there  is  no  salvation,  is  any  other 
than  the  holy  Catholic  and  Roman  Apostolic  Church, 
let  him  be  anathema. 

Canon  XIV. — Whosoever  says  that  the  Holy  Apostle 
Peter  was  not  appointed  by  Christ  as  the  first  of  the 
apostles,  and  as  the  visible  head  of  the  whole  Church 
Militant,  or  that  he  had  only  the  honorary  supremacy, 
but  not  the  true  and  real  jurisdiction,  let  him  be 
anathema. 

Canon  XV. — Whosoever  says  that  it  is  not  according 
to  Christ's  own  will  that  St.  Peter  has  permanent  suc- 
cessors in  his  supremacy  over  the  whole  Church,  or  that 
the  Roman  Pope  is  not  the  successor  of  Peter  in  this 
primacy  by  Divine  right,  let  him  be  anathema. 

Canon  XVI. — Whosoever  says  that  the  Roman  Pope 
has  only  the  office  of  superintendence  and  direction, 
not  the  highest  and  fullest  power  of  jurisdiction  over 
the  whole  Church,  or  that  this  power  is  not  direct  and 
legitimate  over  the  whole  of  the  various  Churches,  let 
him  be  anathema. 

Canon  XVII. — Whosoever  says  that  the  independent 
Church  authority,  as  established  by  the  Catholic  Church 
and  bestowed  upon  her  by  Christ,  and  the  supreme  civil 
power  cannot  exist  together,  so  as  to  preserve  the  due 
rights  of  both,  let  him  be  anathema. 

Canon  XVIII.  —  Whosoever  says  that  the  power 
necessary  for  the  government  of  a  civil  State  does  not 
emanate. from  God,  or  that  one  is  not  bound  by  Divine 


XIV.]  GF   THE  PAPACY.  2JJ 

law  to  submit  himself  to  such  power,  or  that  such 
power  is  repugnant  to  the  natural  liberty  of  men,  let 
him  be  anathema. 

Canon  XIX. — Whosoever  says  that  all  rights  exist- 
ing between  men  arise  from  the  political  State,  and 
that  there  is  no  other  authority  besides  that  so  consti- 
tuted, let  him  be  anathema. 

Canon  XX. — Whosoever  says  that  the  supreme  rule 
for  public  and  social  conduct  is  in  the  law  of  the 
political  State,  or  in  the  public  opinion  of  men,  or  that 
the  judgments  of  the  Church  concerning  what  is  lawful 
and  unlawful  do  not  extend  to  such  actions,  or  that 
there  may  be  something  allowed  by  civil  rights  that  is 
not  allowed  by  Church  rights,  let  him  be  anathema. 

Canon  XXI. — Whosoever  says  that  the  laws  of  the 
Church  have  no  binding  power,  excepting  so  far  as  they 
are  confirmed  by  the  sanction  of  the  civil  power,  or 
that  this  civil  power  has  the  right,  consequent  on  its 
high  authority,  to  pronounce  judgment  or  decisions  in 
matters  of  religion,  let  him  be  anathema. 

There  is  nothing  new  in  the  cursing  propensities  of 
a  Church  whose  power,  from  the  days  of  Gregory  the 
Great,  when  her  insatiable  thirst  for  wealth  and  power 
obscured  the  image  of  her  Founder,  has  been  built  upon 
interdicts  and  anathemas.  But  the  question  presents 
itself,  Is  this  indeed  cthe  Rock  of  unshaken  Truth?'  is 
this  c  a  photograph  of  the  Bride  of  Christ  ?'  Let  us  see 
who  it  is  upon  whom  heaven's  wrath  is  here  denounced. 
It  is  well  that  we  are  not  left  to  deduce  this  from  the 
fevered  diatribes  of  polemical  and  heretical  controver- 
sialists. We  have  before  us  the  deliberate  production 
of  the  legislators  of  the  Roman  Church,  unfettered  save 


278  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

in  their  devotion  to  him  whom  they  regard  as  its  in- 
fallible head. 

He,  then,  who  receives  the  Saviour's  words  c  Other 
sheep  I  have  which  are  not  of  this  fold/  is  accursed. 

He  who  does  not  believe  that  our  Saviour  erred  in 
giving  his  commission  to  c other  seventy*  besides  the 
Apostles,  confirming  it  with  those  suggestive  words  c  he 
that  despiseth  you  despiseth  Me/  is  accursed. 

He  who  holds  with  Peter,  that  God  is  no  respecter  of 
persons,  but  in  every  nation  he  that  feareth  Him,  and 
worketh  righteousness,  is  accepted  with  Him,  is  ac- 
cursed. 

He  who,  with  Paul,  recognizing  that  there  is  not  in 
every  man  the  same  knowledge,  scorns  to  become  a 
stumbling-block  to  a  weak  brother,  is  accursed. 

He  who  listens  to  the  admonition  of  the  Apostle 
James,  c  So  speak  ye,  and  so  do,  as  they  that  shall  be 
judged  by  the  law  of  liberty,'  is  accursed. 

He  who  does  not  believe  that  the  Master  erred  when 
He  said  c  My  kingdom  is  not  of  this  world,'  is  accursed. 

He  who  hesitates  to  ignore,  and  when  necessary  to 
deny,  historical  facts  which  militate  against  the  Papal 
pretensions,  is  accursed. 

Finally,  he  who  accepts  that  most  accursed  heresy, 
that  c  Love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law,'  or  believes  that 
the  infallibility  of  St.  Peter  himself  must  not  be  assigned 
to  a  date  posterior  to  his  exhortation  to  the  elect, 
c  Above  all  things  have  fervent  charity  among  your- 
selves,' and  again,  to  his  antecedent  reprobation  of  the 
perverse  rendering  of  the  charge  c  Feed  my  sheep,'  by 
himself  commenting  upon  it  thus,  c  Not  as  lords  over 
God's  heritage/  is  accursed. 

The  curses  of  the  Church  extend  not  only  to  every 


XIV.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  2*]<) 

man  who  doubts  her  most  overweening  pretensions, 
they  embrace  him  also  who  presumes  to  doubt  the 
eternal  damnation  of  the.  doubter.  Verily,  cas  troops 
of  robbers  wait  for  a  man,  so  the  company  of  priests 
murder  in  the  way  by  consent.'  Thus  far  the  Papal 
anathemas  apply  only  to  the  realm  of  opinion ;  did  they 
stop  here  the  civil  powers  would  continue  to  look  on 
with  placid  indifference.  But  these  far-reaching  curses 
consign  to  perdition  every  man  who  dares  to  accept  the 
evidence  of  his  senses  that  civil  society  can  exist  apart 
from  the  Roman  Catholic  Church.  They  invade  the  rights 
of  nations,  and  pre-eminently  of  France,  by  aiming  at 
the  subversion  of  Concordats,  the  only  safeguards  of 
Catholic  governments  against  priestly  encroachments. 

We  see,  to-day,  the  Catholic  governments  of  Europe 
conceding  liberal  institutions,  in  the  hope  of  directing, 
as  the  only  alternative  of  being  subverted  by,  the  ad- 
vancing and  irresistible  tide  of  democracy.  Will  they, 
will  France,  concede  the  claim  of  Rome  to  propound 
laws  upon  which  no  lay  sovereign  may  trespass  save  at 
the  peril  of  eternal  damnation  ?  c  Thy  people  are  as  they 
who  strive  with  the  priest,'  was  the  bitter  taunt  with 
which  Hosea  demonstrated  the  hopelessness  of  Israel's 
controversy  with  Jehovah.  But  the  day  is  past  when  it 
shall  be  said,  c  There  shall  be  like  people,  like  priest/ 
Priestcraft  is  dead ;  it  remains  only  to  be  buried.  The 
Council  which  is  to  proclaim  the  infallibility  of  the 
chief  priest  of  Rome,  has  well  inaugurated  its  discus- 
sions by  this  wild  utterance  of  Papal  self-inflation, 
exhibiting  in  its  true  character  the  corpse  which  it  is 
now  the  business  of  civil  society  decently  to  inter. 

The  definition  of  Infallibility  to  which  the  Council 
will  be  invited   to   attach   the   seal  of  authority,  has 


28o  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [ 


CHAP. 


been  recently  published  as  an  additional  article  to  the 
Schema  to  which  I  have  referred.  It  is  in  the  following 
terms : — 

c  Chapter  to  be  added  to  the  decree  upon  the  primacy 
of  the  Roman  Pontiff,  to  the  effect  that  the  Roman 
Pontiff  cannot  err  in  the  definition  of  matters  of  faith 
or  morals. 

c  The  Holy  Roman  Church  possesses  the  supreme  and 
complete  primacy  and  principality  over  the  Universal 
Catholic  Church,  which  it  verily  and  humbly  acknow- 
ledges to  have  received,  with  the  plenitude  of  the  power 
of  the  Lord  himself,  in  the  person  of  St.  Peter,  the 
Prince  of  Apostles,  of  whom  the  Roman  Pontiff  is  the 
successor. 

c  And  as,  above  all  things,  it  behoves  it  to  make  clear 
the  truth  of  the  faith,  all  questions  which  may  arise 
upon  matters  of  faith  must  be  determined  by  its  judg- 
ment, seeing  that  otherwise  the  words  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  (Tu  es  Petrus,  &c.)  would  be  disregarded. 

c  That  which  has  been  set  forth  upon  this  point  has 
been  proved  by  the  results  as  in  the  Apostolic  See.  The 
Catholic  religion  has  always  been  preserved  immaculate, 
and  its  doctrine  has  always  been  maintained  at  its  ful- 
ness [celebratd). 

c  Consequently,  we  inculcate,  with  the  concurrence  of 
the  Holy  Council,  and  we  define  as  a  dogma  of  faith 
that,  thanks  to  the  divine  assistance,  it  is  that  the 
Roman  Pontiff,  of  whom  it  was  said  in  the  person  of 
St.  Peter  by  our  same  Lord  Jesus  Christ, cc  I  have  prayed 
for  thee/'  &c.  cannot  err  when,  acting  in  his  quality  as 
supreme  teacher  of  all  Christians,  he  defines  what  the 
Universal  Church  must  hold  in  matters  of  faith  and 
morals,  and  that  the  prerogative  of  inerrancy  or  infalli- 


XIV.]  OF    THE   PAPACY.  28 1 

bility  extends  over  the  same  matters  to  which  the  in- 
fallibility of  the  Church  is  applicable.  But  if  any  one 
should  dare — which  may  God  forbid! — to  controvert 
our  present  definition,  let  him  know  that  he  departs 
from  the  truth  of  the  faith/ 

It  is  easy  to  comprehend  the  overwhelming  interest 
which  the  court  of  Rome  must  take  in  the  authoritative 
definition  of  Papal  Infallibility.  If,  they  contend,  the 
Church  be  an  organic  body  possessing  infallibility,  that 
infallibility  must  reside  in  its  head.  In  the  pretension 
itself  there  is  nothing  new.  It  is  the  world,  and  not 
the  Pope,  that  changes;  and  to  this  is  assignable  the 
now  recognized  absurdity  of  claims,  blindly  accepted 
during  the  middle  ages,  and  only  necessary  to  vindicate 
and  enforce  by  the  decisions  of  a  Council  when  the 
advance  of  freedom  and  intelligence,  the  revelations  of 
science  \  and  the  consequent  elevation  of  opinion,  has 
snapped  the  fetters  of  priestcraft,  and  proclaimed  the 
divorce  of  civil  society  from  that  old  order  of  things  to 
which  the  Church  of  Rome  tenaciously  clings. 

By  the  entire  Ultramontane  press  of  Europe  the 
question  of  Infallibility  is  regarded  as  one  altogether 
fundamental — touching  the  essential  constitution  of 
the  Church  itself.  In  the  Tablet ,  of  the  12th  of  March, 
we  read : — c  As  far  as  it  concerns  their  immunity  from 
errors  in  matters  of  faith,  by  providing  them  with  an 

1  The  first  proposition  on  'rationalism'  submitted  to  the 
Council,  and  which  has  elicited  such  a  storm  of  condemnatory 
eloquence  from  many  of  its  most  eminent  members,  is  said  to  be 
this : — '  That  the  human  mind,  unassisted  by  Divine  light,  is 
unable  to  arrive  at  truth,  and  therefore  that  the  conclusions 
drawn  from  history,  science,  and  experiment,  if  not  in  accord- 
ance with  the  dogmas  of  the  Church,  are  to  be  rejected  and 
condemned.' 


2%2  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

infallible  guide,  it  is  a  purely  spiritual  question,  affect- 
ing the  truths  of  revelation,  and  our  own  certainty  with 
respect  to  them.  But  in  its  bearings  on  the  general 
constitution  of  the  Church  it  has  also  a  politico- 
religious  aspect  which  deserves  separate  attention,  and 
of  which  the  gravity  is  apparent  even  to  non-Catholics.' 
It  is  in  this  politico-religious  aspect  that  the  decisions 
of  the  Council  upon  this  and  other  matters  claim  con- 
sideration here. 

To  an  ordinary  understanding  it  would  seem  that 
the  alleged  necessity  of  a  Council  to  propound  dogmas, 
and  to  solve  doubts,  involves  the  deliberate  acknow 
ledgment  of  Fallibility.  And  this  view  is  consistent 
with  the  history  of  the  Church — not  indeed  with  the 
popular  creed  throughout  the  darkest  period  of  the 
middle  ages,  but  with  the  repeated  decisions  of 
Councils  regarded  by  Rome  herself  as  CEcumenical, 
and  their  decrees  consequently  binding  upon  the  con- 
science of  Christendom. 

With  infallibility  is  intimately  associated  the  prin- 
ciple of  absolute  supremacy.  The  tendency  of  Rome 
towards  absolutism  we  have  seen  to  be  of  ancient  date. 
But  the  dogmatic  definition  of  the  Personal  Infallibility 
of  the  Pontiff',  and  by  induction  of  his  superiority  over 
Councils,  in  the  face  of  repeated  decisions  of  CEcume- 
nical Councils  in  a  contrary  sense,  involves  the 
absurdity  of  demonstrating  the  fallibility  of  infallible 
Popes  and  Councils.  Either  the  Council  of  Constance 
was  infallible  or  it  was  not.  If  it  was  not,  then  on  the 
Ultramontane  theory  of  the  Pope's  sole  infallibility,  all 
preceding  Councils  were  also  fallible,  and  the  Council 
of  the  Vatican  cannot  be  held  to  constitute  an  excep- 
tion.    But  Rome  has  always  held  that  the  Council  of 


XIV.]  OF    THE   PAPACY.  283 

Constance  was  infallible;  the  Pope,  therefore,  who  dares 
to  question  the  binding  power  of  its  decisions  incurs  the 
sin  of  schism,  and  the  resulting  penalty  of  deposition. 

'When  Popes  damn  Popes,  and  Councils  damn  them  all, 
And  Popes  damn  Councils,  what  must  Christians  do? 
When  they  each  other's  laws  damn  and  recall, 

How  shall  we  know  whose  power  then  was  true 1  ? ' 

But  this  question  of  infallibility  has  also  wider 
bearings.  It  will  inevitably — in  point  of  fact  it  does 
already — awaken  the  jealous  susceptibilities  of  govern- 
ments from  which  Rome  cannot  afford  to  be  alienated. 
The  recent  changes  in  the  home  policy  of  the  Emperor 
of  the  French,  necessitate  his  reverting  to  the  original 
condition — that  of  good  government — upon  which  the 
French  protectorate  in  Rome  was  undertaken.  It  is 
impossible  for  him  to  promote  in  France  those  civil 
institutions  which,  supported  by  the  protection  of 
French  troops,  the  Pope  is  trampling  under  foot  in 
Rome,  without  raising  suspicions  as  to  the  sincerity 
of  his  liberal  intentions.  The  Emperor  of  Austria  is 
equally  pledged  to  oppose  the  fanatical  pretensions  of 
the  Pope's  Ultramontane  advisers,  whilst  other  powers, 
both  Catholic  and  Protestant,  concur  in  protesting 
against  these  extravagances.  c  These  governments/ 
says  the  Times,  c  would  be  all  more  or  less  anxious  to 
prevent  the  Pope  from  being  invested  with  an  un- 
limited and  uncontrolled  spiritual  authority  which  he 
might  possibly  make  use  of  to  create  embarrassments 
in  their  respective  dominions.  The  new  dogma  would 
offend  a  large  proportion  of  Latin  Catholics,  as  intro- 
ducing a  profound  change  in  the  constitution  of  the 

1  Richard  Baxter. 


284  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

Church,  and  because,  in  our  times,  absolutism  in  re- 
ligion is  not  more  relished  than  in  politics.  Oriental 
Catholics  would  take  immediate  alarm  at  a  dogma 
which  is  directly  opposed  to  their  unbounded  venera- 
tion for  CEcumenical  Councils,  and  would  render  those 
solemn  assemblies  useless  in  future.' 

The  position  in  which  Pius  IX  will  find  himself, 
through  the  reassertion  of  the  mediaeval  pretensions, 
is  that  of  his  own  choosing.  Italy  waits  for  her  capital, 
and  the  world's  plaudits  would  attend  the  magnanimity 
of  the  ruler  who  should  say — It  is  hers  ! 

The  supremacy  involved  in  the  recognition  of  infalli- 
bility would  be  complete  over  the  material  as  over  the 
spiritual  world.  It  would  stamp  out  the  last  remnant 
of  the  Gallican  school,  and  of  the  liberal  and  consti- 
tutional party  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  all  over  Chris- 
tendom, and  secure  the  uncontrolled  triumph  of  the 
Ultramontanes,  animated  by  their  old  proclivities  to 
tyranniz2  over  the  rulers  and  peoples  of  the  earth. 
The  result  might  be  fittingly  embodied  in  a  formulary 
which  we  humbly  submit  to  the  consideration  of  H.  £. 
Cardinal  Antonelli : — 

1  This  is  the  Pope, 
That  rules  the  Council, 
That  rules  the  Church, 
That  rules  the  world.' 

c  The  great  object  of  the  Council,'  remarks  an  eminent 
ecclesiastical  historian  \  c  is  to  place  society  and  the 
Church  on  what   Rome  regards   as  their   true    basis. 

1  British  Quarterly  Review,  April,  1870.  Article,  '  The  Council 
of  the  Vatican.'  We  can  hardly  be  in  error  in  attributing  this 
able  and  interesting  article  to  the  pen  of  the  distinguished  author 
of  '  The  Church  of  the  Restoration.' 


XIV.]  OF   THE  PAPACY.  285 

This  basis  for  the  State  is  a  theocracy ;  for  the  Church, 
the  Pope's  infallibility.  Thus  to  confirm  the  Syllabus, 
to  proclaim  Papal  infallibility,  to  complete  the  glorifi- 
cation of  Mary,  is  the  programme  elaborated  at  Rome.' 
Throughout  the  world  a  conflict  between  Church  and 
State  will  be  precipitated,  and  its  issue  is  not  uncertain. 
The  prescience  of  Rome  descries  c  terrible  revolutions' 
as  the  penalty  of  civil  laws  c  contrary  to  the  decrees  of 
the  Council.'  But  Rome  has  no  longer  the  power  to 
accomplish  the  fulfilment  of  her  own  prophecies.  c  For 
these  u  terrible  revolutions,"  indeed,  it  is  difficult  to  say 
who  ought  to  be  most  anxious  to  prepare ;  for,  although 
during  these  last  eighty  years  revolutions  have  been 
only  too  frequent,  we  cannot  recall  one  that  has  arisen 
out  of  zeal  for  the  Papacy,  or  in  defence  of  Concordats, 
or  out  of  resentment  for  the  disregarded  decrees  and 
regulations  of  a  Council.  Rather  the  reverse  has 
generally  been  the  case.  The  thread  of  tyranny 
snapped  when  it  was  pressed  too  tightly  in  obedience 
to  Papal  ascendancy.  If  the  Civilta  Cattolica  doubt 
the  fact,  let  it  look  at  the  fallen  dynasties,  victims  of 
u  terrible  revolutions" — those  Tuscan,  Neapolitan,  and 
other  royal  families  now  crowding  the  Royal  Tribune 
at  the  Council  Hall  in  the  Vatican — those  dynasties 
who  cast  in  their  lot  with  the  Pope,  and  whose  lot  the 
Pope  himself  partially  shared.  In  this  matter  of 
cc  terrible  revolutions,"  it  will  be  well  if  the  warning 
which  Rome  addresses  to  her  neighbours  be  not  lost 
upon  herself1.' 

But  this  dogma,  to  be  defined  out  of  consideration 
for  c  the  greater  glory  of  God,'   is  also  fraught  with 
danger  to  the  Church  as  a  spiritual  corporation.    There 
1  The  Times. 


286  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

is  a  limit — and  Rome  must  learn  the  fact — to  the 
passive  susceptibility  whose  impotence  of  resistance 
has  allowed  the  definition  of  the  dogma  of  the  Im- 
maculate Conception;  whilst  the  spectacle  of  the 
civil  governments  arrayed  in  self-defence  against  the 
reviving  encroachments  of  a  spiritual  power  in  avowed 
antagonism  with  all  that  is  liberal  and  progressive  in 
modern  ideas,  is  little  calculated  to  retard  the  advance 
of  rationalism  and  infidelity  which  it  is  the  mission  of 
the  Church  to  arrest. 

The  discussions  of  the  past  sessions  of  the  Council, 
wherein  language,  to  which  Rome  is  little  accustomed 
to  listen,  has  fallen  from  the  lips  of  prelates  of  high 
degree,  may  induce  the  managers  of  the  Council  yet 
more  effectually  to  seal  the  lips  of  the  refractory 
bishops.  But  what  if  Catholics  outside,  profoundly 
believing  in  the  direct  superintendence  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  over  the  deliberations  of  the  Council,  should  be 
perverse  enough  to  regard  such  tactics  in  the  light  of 
an  impious  attempt  to  control  the  mouth  of  inspira- 
tion? What  if  indignant  Catholics,  in  Germany, 
Hungary,  Switzerland —even  in  priest-ridden  Spain  and 
Italy — should  clamour  for  the  establishment  of  National 
Churches^  enjoying,  at  the  least,  the  liberty  which  France 
extorted  as  the  condition  of  tolerating  the  Roman 
Catholic  religion  ?  These  are  not  visionary  dangers. 
From  Madrid  we  learn  that  the  Government  abstain 
from  sending  a  special  envoy  to  the  Council  on  the 
ground  of  the  intolerant  spirit  which  prevails  at  Rome. 
This  is  consistent  with  the  rapid  spread  of  a  diametri- 
cally opposite  principle  in  Spain,  where  complete  liberty 
of  conscience  is  now  recognized  as  the  divine  right  of 
man. 


xrv 


.]  OF    THE  PAPACY.  287 


The  consequences,  as  regards  the  Roman  Catholic 
laity  of  Switzerland,  of  the  attempts  to  check  all  free 
discussion  in  the  Council,  are  thus  described  by  an 
intelligent  observer  : — c  There  is  some  reason  to  think 
that  the  Roman  Catholic  laity  of  Switzerland  will  set 
an  example  of  resistance  to  the  pretensions  of  the 
Ultramontane  clergy,  which  may  probably  be  imitated 
in  other  countries.  The  position  taken  up  by  the  Swiss 
prelates  at  the  Council,  with  only  one  exception,  has 
been  deeply  resented  by  their  countrymen.  An  ad- 
dress issued  by  the  Catholics  of  Aargan  represents  the 
opinion  of  the  public  with  considerable  accuracy.  Its 
authors  denounce  the  views  now  in  favour  at  Rome 
as  contradictory  to  the  teachings  of  history  and  science, 
and  describe  the  attribution  of  supernatural  powers  to 
the  Pope  as  a  return  to  the  blindness  of  heathenism. 
They  hold  that  the  only  true  remedy  must  be  sought  in 
a  searching  reform  of  the  Church,  and  the  complete 
subordination  of  the  clergy  to  the  State,  with  the  insti- 
tution of  diocesan  synods,  in  which  the  laity  must  be 
largely  represented.  Their  demand,  in  short,  prac- 
tically amounts  to  complete  independence  of  Rome. 
The  opposition  of  intelligent  laymen  is  a  disturbing 
element  which  as  yet  has  not  been  sufficiently  taken 
into  account.  In  Switzerland  it  is  probable  that  Rome 
will  provoke  a  secession.  In  Southern  Germany,  where 
Austria  has  lost  a  golden  opportunity  of  placing  herself 
at  the  head  of  liberal  Catholicism,  the  Jesuits,  it  is  now 
seen,  have  been  playing  into  the  hands  of  Bismarck, 
and  forcing  the  ablest  thinkers  in  the  Southern  States 
to  look  to  Prussia  as  the  ultimate  safeguard  of  the  inde- 
pendent Church  of  Germany/ 

An  eminent  German  bishop  has  declared  his  convic- 


288  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [ 


CHAP. 


tion  that  one  effect  of  the  decree  of  Papal  infallibility 
would  be  to  make  all  Germany  Protestant.  The 
German  press  teems  with  contemptuous  ridicule  of 
the  programme  of  the  Jesuits.  The  Neue  Freie  Presse, 
an  Austrian  journal,  says: — cThe  Pope  has  at  length 
resolved  to  make  a  bold  stroke  on  the  question  of 
Infallibility.  On  the  25th  inst.,  the  Feast  of  the  An- 
nunciation, we  are  told  that  the  (Ecumenical  Council 
will,  in  a  public  sitting,  proclaim  "the  additional 
article  of  the  Schema"  the  Infallibility  of  the  Pope. 
Christ,  according  to  the  Scriptures,'  it  continues,  c  be- 
came man  and  dwelt  among  us.  Pius  IX  and  his 
successors  are  to  become  God  from  the  25th  of  March, 
during  the  short  time  of  their  pilgrimage  upon  earth. 
But,'  it  adds,  c  the  Pope,  adorned  with  his  new  infalli- 
bility, may  learn  that  there  are  certain  things  the  nine- 
teenth century  will  tolerate  just  as  little  as  the  six- 
teenth.5 

As  an  illustration  of  the  boldness  of  the  language  in 
which  zealous  Catholics  do  not  hesitate  to  denounce  the 
projects  of  the  Roman  Curia,  the  following  quotation 
from  an  address,  c  to  the  Vatican  Council,5  by  Dr.  Sepp, 
quoted  from  the  North  German  Correspondent,  is  interest- 
ing and  significant: — cThe  supreme  authority  in  the 
Church  will  be  always  respected  by  Catholics  so  long 
as  we  hear  nothing  beyond  authority,  but  the  word 
"infallibility"  is  a  stumbling-stone  and  an  offence, and 
woe  to  him  by  whom  offences  come.  "  You  shall  be 
as  Gods,55  was  not  a  celestial  but  a  demoniacal  sugges- 
tion. The  deification  of  the  Roman  emperors  conduced 
neither  to  the  welfare  of  the  world  nor  to  that  of  the 
Caesars,  and  what  advantage  is  to  accrue  to  humanity 
from  this  new  and  significant  dogma  of  Infallibility  ?  It 


XIV.]  OF    THE   PAPACY.  289 

is  surprising  how  often  in  history  ecclesiastical  digni- 
taries, especially  among  the  Latin  nations,  have  been 
the  promoters  of  temporal  despotism.  The  supreme 
Head  of  the  Church  must  never  degenerate  into  the 
Dalai  Lama  of  the  West.  Never  must  we  recognize  in 
the  Pope  a  new  incarnation  of  the  Logos,  an  additional 
revelation  and  ecclesiastical  oracle.  Christ  alone,  and 
not  his  high  priest,  must  personally  be  the  object  of  our 
faith  and  trust.  The  thunders  of  the  Vatican  may  be 
tried  to  subject  the  world  to  the  claims  of  this  over- 
weening ambition,  but  a  recognition  of  such  preten- 
sions cannot  be  obtained  by  force.  When  brought 
fairly  face  to  face  with  the  difficulties  of  the  position, 
the  most  devoted  adherents  of  Rome  will  hesitate  and 
conscientiously  refuse  to  proceed  farther.  Such  an  act 
of  self-glorification  inspires  the  reflecting  Catholic  with 
horror,  and  it  reminds  non-Catholics  of  some  parts  of 
the  book  of  Revelation.  By  the  virtual  institution  of 
an  exclusively  Italian  Church  government,  by  the  as- 
sumption of  one  infallible  Head  of  the  Church,  deciding 
dogmatically  in  disputed  questions,  the  formation  of 
independent  national  Churches  is  provoked,  and  in  ad- 
dition to  a  Gallican  and  an  Anglican  a  German  Church 
may,  by  the  force  of  circumstances,  be  brought  into  ex- 
istence. It  is  not  an  error  to  assert  that  even  a  hierarchy 
cannot  rule  without  a  certain  popularity.  In  the  course 
of  a  thousand  years  so  many  dogmas  have  not  been  pro- 
claimed as  in  our  times  during  a  single  Pontificate,  and 
no  one  felt  the  least  longing  for  them  with  the  excep- 
tion of  certain  gentlemen  in  Rome.  The  proclam- 
ation of  the  new  dogma  would  be  the  first  signal  for 
a  new  conflict  with  the  Jesuits,  and  the  first  step  to 
their  second  overthrow/ 

u 


290  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

In  France  the  memorable  letter  of  Father  Hyacinthe 
to  the  General  of  the  Barefooted  Carmelites  at  Rome, 
revealing  as  it  did,  c  a  pure  element  of  religion  aiming 
at  emancipation  from  Roman  tyranny,'  will  not  soon  be 
forgotten.  Denouncing  cthe  divorce,  as  impious  as  it 
is  senseless,  which  Rome  seeks  to  bring  about  between 
the  Church,  which  is  our  mother  according  to  eternity, 
and  the  society  of  the  nineteenth  century,  of  which  we 
are  the  sons  in  a  temporal  sense,  and  towards  which  we 
also  have  duties  and  sympathies,'  he  declares  himself — 
knowing  well  that  he  carries  with  him  the  sympathies 
of  millions — cat  war  with  those  doctrines  and  prac- 
tices which  are  called  Roman ; '  with  that  false  Catho- 
licism to  which  he  attributes  the  social,  moral,  and  re- 
ligious anarchy,  into  which  France  is  plunged. 

In  the  same  sense,  and  within  a  fortnight  of  his 
death,  we  have  a  kindred  protest  from  the  distinguished 
historian  and  statesman  to  whose  letter  I  have  already 
had  occasion  to  refer.  c  A  few  hysterical  words,'  says 
the  Tablet ;  but  they  are  words  carrying  the  emphasis 
which  we  instinctively  attach  to  all  c  last  words,'  whose 
echoes  will  outlive  the  pretensions  they  denounce.  Their 
significance  was  at  least  recognized  by  the  Pontiff,  who, 
if  report  speaks  truly— though  afterwards  expressing  the 
pious  hope  that  the  Count  had  recanted  his  errors,  and 
ordering  a  mass  to  be  said  for  the  repose  of  his  soul — 
exclaimed  on  hearing  of  the  distinguished  patriot's  death, 
c  Oh,  what  good  fortune  x ! '   Here  are  the  words  of  this 

1  The  Tablet  would  have  blushed  to  attribute  to  the  Pope  a 
sentiment  which  even  a  man  capable  of  feeling  it  would  be 
ashamed  to  avow.  But  the  statement  of  the  generally  well-in- 
formed correspondent  of  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette,  is  not  less  com- 
plimentary to  the  good  sense  and  refined  feeling  of  the  Pontiff, 


XIV.]  OF    THE  PAPACY.  29 1 

most  prominent  champion  of  liberal  views  : — c  Never, 
thank  Heaven,  have  I  thought,  said,  or  written  any- 
thing favourable  to  the  personal  and  separate  infalli- 
bility of  the  Pope,  such  as  it  is  sought  to  impose  upon 
us  ;  nor  to  the  theocracy,  the  dictatorship  of  the  Church, 
which  I  did  my  best  to  reprobate  in  that  history  of  the 
cc  Monks  of  the  West,"  of  which  you  are  pleased  to  ap- 
preciate the  laborious  fabric ;  nor  to  that  cc  Absolutism 
of  Rome,"  of  which  the  speech  that  you  quote  disputed 
the  existence,  even  in  the  Middle  Ages,  but  which  to- 
day forms  the  symbol  and  the  programme  of  the  faction 

dominant  among  us Therefore,  without  having 

either  the  will  or  the  power  to  discuss  the  question  now 
debating  in  the  Council,  I  hail  with  the  most  grateful 
admiration,  first,  the  great  and  generous  Bishop  of 
Orleans,  then  the  eloquent  and  intrepid  priests  who 
have  had  the  courage  to  place  themselves  across  the 
path  of  the  torrent  of  adulation,  imposture,  and  servi- 
lity by  which  we  risk  being  swallowed  up.  Thanks  to 
them,  Catholic  France  will  not  have  remained  too  much 
below  Germany,  Hungary,  and  America.  I  publicly 
pride  myself,  and  more  than  I  can  express  by  words,  to 
have  them  for  friends  and  for  brother  academicians.  I 
have  but  one  regret,  that  of  being  prevented  by  illness 
from  descending  into  the  arena  in  their  suite,  not,  cer- 
tainly, on  the  ground  of  theology,  but  on  that  of  history 
and  of  the  social  and  political  consequences  of  the  sys- 
tem they  contend  against.     Thus  should  I  deserve  my 

than  the  account  of  this  incident  given  by  his  monitor.  '  What 
he  (Pius  IX)  did  say,'  says  the  Tablet,  'was  that  Montalembert 
was  one  of  those  liberal  Catholics  who  are  only  half  Catholics. 
Here  the  manner  of  Pius  I X  indicated  -very  emphatically  a  feeling 
of  disgust.'  /^£esi~LiBR^^ 

U   1  f  OFTHE 

'university 
california; 


292  THE   TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

share  (and  it  is  the  only  ambition  remaining  to  me)  in 
those  litanies  of  abuse  daily  launched  against  my  illus- 
trious friends  by  a  too  numerous  portion  of  that  poor 
clergy  which  prepares  for  itself  so  sad  a  destiny,  and 
which  I  formerly  loved,  defended,  and  honoured  as  it 
had  not  yet  been  by  any  in  modern  France.' 

There  is  no  doubt  that,  to  a  certain  class  of  mind, 
the  doctrine  of  Papal  Infallibility  possesses  a  powerful 
fascination.  It  terminates  once  and  for  ever  those  per- 
plexing questionings  to  which  few  reflective  minds  are 
strangers,  and  which  will  wear  the  heart  and  brain  until 
they  are  resolved  by  hard,  earnest,  and  honest  thought  j 
or  by  that  which  is  of  infinitely  less  trouble,  an  appeal 
to  infallible  authority. 

Rome  counts,  no  doubt,  upon  the  implicit  acceptance 
by  all  the  faithful  of  whatever  decrees  the  Council  may 
promulgate.  I  have  already  referred  to  the  improba- 
bility of  a  successful  schisrn,  and  to  the  prevailing  dis- 
position of  the  laity  in  most  Roman  Catholic  countries 
to  accept,  without  enquiry,  whatever  may  be  prescribed 
by  the  head  of  the  Church.  c  It  is  a  comfort,'  says  the 
Tablet  of  the  19th  of  March,  cto  anticipate  that  our 
accusers,  as  soon  as  the  definition  is  made,  will  not 
only  cease  from  the  strife  and  clamour,  but  accept  it 
with  as  cordial  submission  of  heart  and  mind  as  if  it  had 
always  been  the  object  of  their  wishes  and  prayers/ 
But  Rome  has  given  a  mighty  impulse  to  the  spirit  of 
enquiry,  and  has  demonstrated  more  effectually  than  all 
the  learned  arguments  of  Protestant  controversialists 
which  have  been  launched  against  her  pretensions,  that 
her  vaunted  unity  is  a  grand  myth — her  uniformity, 
even,  a  thing  of  the  past.  It  remains  to  be  seen  whether 
in  these  days,  intelligent  and  liberal  Catholics  will  bow 


XIV.]  OF    THE  PAPACY,  293 

down  their  reason  with  the  blind  submission  of  the  dark 
ages — whether,  having  unfurled  the  banner  of  Christian 
freedom,  they  will  lower  it  under  the  abject  pretext  of 
submission,  and  thus  c  lend  their  influence  towards  con- 
founding the  Gospel  of  Christ  with  a  system  of  oppres- 
sion which  disgusts  all  upright  consciences  V 

The  independent  and  antagonistic  attitude  assumed 
by  so  many  of  the  Fathers  in  the  Council,  has  en- 
couraged independent  thought  amongst  their  flocks; 
and  the  demonstration  of  the  fallibility  of  Councils 
held  to  have  been  infallible,  by  the  reversal  of  their 
decisions  in  the  promulgation  of  the  dogma  of  the 
Infallibility  of  the  Pontiff,  will  assuredly  create  greater 
consternation  amongst  the  faithful  in  the  nineteenth 
century,  than  did  the  declarations  of  Popes  contra- 
dicting the  doctrines  of  the  Church,  and  their  mutually 
destructive  enunciations,  in  the  Middle  Ages.  It  will 
not  be  forgotten  that  the  very  last  General  Council 
imposed  limits  on  the  personal  Infallibility  of  the 
Pontiff,  and  declared  the  voice  of  the  whole  Church, 
and  not  the  voice  of  the  Pontiff,  to  be  supreme. 

The  world  has  now  heard  more  than  enough  about 
one  Infallible  undoing  and  denouncing  the  acts  of  pre- 
ceding Infallibles.   The  Times  has  recently  remarked  : — 

cPius  IX  has  said  "Let  there  be  light,"  and  light 
there  cannot  fail  to  be.  Let  the  upshot  of  the  Council 
be  what  it  may,  it  will  require  no  great  effort  for 
mankind  to  arrive  at  the  conclusion  that  the  Papal 
Infallibility,  which  so  many  took  for  granted,  is  a 
point  on  which  the  Church  never  agreed,  and  never 
can  be  brought  to  agree — a  point  which   implied  the 

1  <  British  Quarterly  Review/  April,  1870,  Art. '  The  Council  of 
the  Vatican.' 


294  THE   TEMPORAL  POWER  [CHAP. 

subjection  of  the  Church  to  the  Pope,  and  the  dis- 
cussion of  which  is  by  no  means  unlikely  to  break  up 
Papal  supremacy  and  accomplish  ecclesiastical  emanci- 
pation/ 

The  Church  makes  no  new  decrees,  say  the  Ultra- 
montanes;  she  does  but  place  in  a  clearer  light  an 
ancient  and  primordial  truth  in  opposition  to  a  later 
error.  The  c  later  error,5  now  to  be  exploded  by  the 
refulgence  of  light  thrown  upon  it  by  the  decision  of 
the  Council,  is  the  supremacy  of  Councils  over  Popes. 
But  the  demonstration  of  this  c  error5  is  the  demon- 
stration of  the  Fallibility  of  Popes  and  Councils  alike 
who  have  decreed  and  enforced  it.  The  well-known 
canon  of  St.  Vincent,  c  Qjod  semper,  quod  ubique,  quod  ab 
omnibus^  the  very  charter  of  the  unity  of  faith  and 
practice  in  the  Catholic  Church — is  abrogated. 

Remembering  how  irrational,  inconsistent,  and  even 
heretical,  some  of  the  Popes  have  been — and  this  vast 
prerogative,  if  now  declared,  must  be  held  to  have 
applied  to  all  such — it  is  at  least  within  the  region 
of  hypothesis  to  imagine  a  future  Pontiff  emulating  the 
religious  aptitudes  of  the  first  Napoleon,  and  justifying, 
on  the  ground  of  expediency,  his  profession  of  Islamism. 
By  a  stroke  of  his  pen  such  an  Infallible  may  substitute 
Mahomet  for  Christ  in  the  creed  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church.  His  decision  being  infallible,  would  consti- 
tute an  unimpeachable  arret;  the  Christianity  recog- 
nized at  Rome,  and  from  which  already  Christ  is  well- 
nigh  ostracized  by  the  greater  honour  rendered  to  the 
Virgin,  would  be  blotted  out  of  existence.  Whether 
or  not  the  world  and  the  Catholic  Church  would  be 
gainers  by  the  process,  is  a  subject  of  discussion  not 
within  our  province. 


XIV.]  OF    THE   PAPACY.  295 

It  is  impossible  to  escape  the  conviction  that  the 
attempt  to  cripple  all  intellectual  movement  and  scien- 
tific activity  in  the  Church  by  establishing  the  doctrine 
of  the  personal  Infallibility  of  the  Pontiff,  and  the  still 
more  absurd  dogma  of  the  corporeal  assumption  of 
Mary  and  her  husband — the  principal  objects  of  the 
Council,  to  which  the  Pope  will  resist  all  opposition — 
will  try  the  fabric  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  as 
nothing  has  tried  it  for  centuries.  It  will  arrest  that 
sympathy  with  Roman  Catholicism  which  has  developed 
into  an  unreasoning  passion  with  Liberals  in  Protestant 
countries.  Protestants  may  take  pride  in  contrasting 
the  fearless  honesty  with  which  Protestant  narrowness 
and  bigotry  have  been  denounced  in  England  and  Ger- 
many, with  the  extreme  severity  visited  upon  every 
form  of  Protestantism  in  Catholic  countries1.  Surely, 
however,  adopting  the  language  of  the  Pall  Mall 
Gazette,  the  time  has  now  come  for  a  rather  different 
policy : — 

c  Popery  has  in  all  directions  become  so  vivacious 
of  late  years,  and  so  many  circumstances  combine  to 
help  it  on  as  a  whole,  and  to  give  it  favour  in  the  eyes 
of  large  classes  of  our  countrymen  and  countrywomen, 
that  it  is  very  desirable  from  time  to  time  to  insist 
upon  the  fact  that  a  large  part  of  what  it  teaches  is 
paltry  and  effeminate  nonsense,  utterly  destitute  of  the 
slightest  pretensions  to  the  consideration  of  any  serious 
man,  and  deserving  of  the  same  sort  of  unqualified 
contempt  and  disgust  with  which  reasonable  people 
regard  fortune-telling  or  any  other  gross  delusion.     But 

1  If  the  Council  declares  the  propositions  of  the  Syllabus  to  be 
Articles  of  Faith,  religious  persecution  will  become  a  sacred  duty, 
obligatory  upon  every  member  of  the  Roman  Communion. 


2()6  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

it  is  difficult  to  imagine  a  more  offensive  or  degrading 
spectacle  than  that  of  a  number  of  men,  mostly  old 
men  too,  meeting  together  to  affirm  in  the  most  solemn 
way  the  truth  of  a  matter  of  fact  about  which  they 
neither  do  nor  can  know  anything  at  all.  If  they  do 
make  the  affirmation  in  question,  it  will  be  neither 
more  nor  less  than  a  gross  falsehood,  for  what  false- 
hood can  be  grosser  than  that  of  a  person  who  solemnly 
affirms  the  truth  of  a  matter  of  fact  which  he  does  not 
and  cannot  know  to  be  true  ?  The  falsehood,  more- 
over, will  neither  be  less  false  nor  less  immoral  because 
it  will  be  told  in  a  deeply  religious  spirit  by  very  pious 
men.  It  is,  indeed,  obvious  enough  that  to  tell  some 
such  falsehood  as  this,  the  more  monstrous  and  baseless 
the  better,  is  the  very  object  for  which  the  Council  is 
convened.  The  object  is  to  affront  and  protest  against 
human  reason  and  the  results  to  which  it  inevitably 
leads,  and  to  set  up  other  standards  of  truth  than  those 
which  all  men  acknowledge  in  all  other  affairs.  It  is 
a  conspiracy  to  force  down  the  real  truth  by  setting  up 
a  sham  clerical  truth  based  on  mere  assertion  and  sanc- 
tioned by  anathemas  instead  of  evidence ;  and  this 
appears  to  us  a  proceeding  as  immoral  as  it  is  con- 
temptible. It  is  a  relief  to  turn  to  the  vast  though 
confused  answer  to  the  challenge  which  rises  in  dif- 
ferent accents  from  every  part  of  the  world.  We,  say 
the  Pope  and  his  lieutenants,  are  the  sole  organs  of 
moral  and  spiritual  truth.  We  can  announce  to  man- 
kind at  large  all  that  they  ought  to  know  and  believe 
on  all  great  subjects  ex  cathedra  and  without  giving  any 
sort  of  grounds  for  our  opinions.  The  answer  is  in- 
direct and  multifarious,  but  not  the  less  impressive. 
Religion,  says  the  Parliament  of  England,  is  matter 


XIV.]  OF    THE   PAPACY.  29 J 

of  opinion.  We  will  have  free  trade  in  it,  and  will 
make  our  laws  upon  all  subjects  with  less  and  less 
reference  to  theological  principles.  The  principles  of 
1789,  say  the  French,  express  our  real  belief,  and  if 
we  can  but  settle  our  political  difficulties,  you  shall 
see  how  much  we  love  you.  The  Spaniards  convey 
their  criticism  through  a  revolution.  The  Italians  look 
forward  to  the  possession  of  Rome.  Southern  Germany 
is  shaking  off  the  Concordat  and  all  its  works.  Northern 
Germany  treats  the  Pope  with  civil  contempt,  and 
North  America  leaves  very  little  Popery  even  in  the 
Irish  of  the  second  generation.  All  this  does  not  look 
as  if  the  world  at  large  believed  that  the  Pope  knew 
very  much  even  about  the  Virgin  Mary  and  her  bodily 
assumption.  To  be  sure  he  knows  just  as  much  about 
it  as  any  one  else,  and  a  great  deal  more  than  the 
author  of  the  fourth  gospel  knew,  or,  at  all  events, 
chose  to  tell.  This  writer — though,  according  to  his 
own  account,  he  cc  took  her  unto  his  own  home,'3  and 
ought,  therefore,  to  have  been  well  informed  on  the 
whole  subject — says  not  one  word  about  her  except 
that  she  was  present  at  the.  crucifixion,  and  was  re- 
proved at  the  marriage  at  Cana  in  Galilee.' 

A  General  Council,  says  Dean  Milman,  is  c  unneces- 
sary, and  could  hardly  be  convoked  but  on  extraordinary 
occasions,  to  settle  some  questions  which  have  already 
violently  disorganized  the  peace  of  Christendom.'  But 
from  the  highest  dignitary  of  the  Church  to  the  meanest 
cure,  there  is  not  one  that  fails  to  recognize  the  insuf- 
ficiency of  the  reasons  assigned  in  the  Syllabus  of  June, 
1867,  for  the  convening  of  an  (Ecumenical  Council. 
No  new  heresy  exists  to  be  combated,  no  schism  to  be 
anathematized.     But  whilst  the  apprehensions  of  nume- 


298  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

rous  ecclesiastics  respecting  the  real  objects  of  the 
Council  are  shared  by  the  secular  Catholic  powers, 
whose  representatives  are  excluded  from  its  delibera- 
tions, their  distrust  hardly  ventures  upon  remonstrance 
or  enquiry.  Indeed  it  is  easy  to  perceive  that  enquiry 
respecting  the  true  aim  and  the  practical  regulation  of 
the  Council,  would  be  silenced  by  the  retort  that  it 
is  impossible  to  predict  the  proceedings  of  men  acting 
under  the  direct  inspiration  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Those  who  have  watched  the  proceedings  of  the 
court  of  Rome  since  the  close  of  the  Italian  war, 
must  have  observed  in  how  marked  a  degree  the  in- 
stability of  purpose  by  which,  for  a  decade,  Pius  IX 
had  been  characterized,  has  given  place  to  that  con- 
stancy which  was  an  eminent  characteristic  of  his  early 
life.  Constancy  in  love,  unrequited  by  the  fair  object 
of  his  affections,  converted  the  youthful  soldier  into  a 
priest.  Constancy  in  the  duties  of  his  sacred  calling 
rendered  him  one  of  the  brightest  ornaments  of  the 
Church,  both  in  the  mission-field  abroad,  and  in  more 
responsible  offices  at  home.  Constancy  to  liberal  prin- 
ciples in  an  era  of  corruption  and  of  political  disquiet, 
secured  his  election  to  the  Papal  throne.  Constancy 
in  friendship,  both  before  and  after  that  event,  is  the 
brightest  trait  in  a  character  altogether  estimable. 

1  Rare  is  true  love ;  true  friendship  is  still  rarer ' ! ' 

Constancy  of  purpose  enabled  him  to  confront  the 
most  powerful  and  determined  opposition,  and  to  in- 
augurate his  reign  by  that  great  act  of  grace,  the 
political  amnesty,  to  which  allusion  has  been  made, 

1  La  Fontaine. 


XIV.J  OF   THE  PAPACY.  299 

and  afterwards  to  attempt  the  dangerous  experiment 
of  constitutional  rule. 

From  that  period  the  reins  of  government  have  been 
held  by  Antonelli,  in  whose  hands  the  Pontiff  long 
remained  but  a  vacillating  tool.  But  the  Cardinal  who, 
if  the  wisest,  is  no  longer  the  most  influential  of  the 
Pope's  advisers,  is  in  disfavour ;  and  in  the  same  ratio 
as  his  influence  declines,  the  PontifFs  firmness  of  pur- 
pose appears  to  revive. 

In  the  revival,  and  the  unfettered  exercise  of  this 
distinguishing  characteristic,  we  see  a  guarantee  for 
the  accomplishment  of  the  cherished  project  of  Pius 
IX;  and  anticipate  that  concurrently  with  the  preten- 
tious assumptions  with  which  the  so-called  CEcumenical 
Council  shall  declare  him  personally  the  organ  of  the 
unseen  Ruler  of  the  world,  we  may  witness  the  com- 
mencement of  the  last  vital  struggle  for  the  mainten- 
ance of  the  Temporal  Sovereignty ; — the  beginning  of 
the  end  of  that  august  power  which,  for  fifteen  cen- 
turies, has  committed  itself  to  an  internecine  contest 
with  human  intelligence  and  freedom. 

The  world  has  long  been  familiar  with  the  preten- 
sions of  Rome,  but  it  is  not  often  that  they  are  stated 
with  greater  candour  and  conciseness,  or  by  one  better 
entitled  to  speak  with  authority,  than  in  the  following 
sentences  from  the  important  address  recently  delivered 
by  Archbishop  Manning  at  Kensington  : — 

'What  was  the  meaning  of  modern  civilization? 
The  state  of  political  society  founded  upon  divorce, 
secular  education,  infinite  divisions,  and  contradictions 
in  matters  of  religion,  and  the  absolute  renunciation 
of  the  supreme  authority  of  the  Christian  Church.  Could 
it,  then,  be  matter  of  wonder  that  when  the  Roman 


300  THE    TEMPORAL   POWER  [CHAP. 

Pontiff  published  the  Syllabus  all  those  who  were  in 
love  with  modern  civilization  should  have  risen  in 
uproar  against  it  ?  Or  could  it  be  wondered  that  when 
the  world,  with  great  courtesy  sometimes,  with  great 
superciliousness  at  another  time,  and  great  menace 
always,  invites  the  Roman  Pontiff  to  reconcile  himself 
to  Liberalism,  progress,  and  modern  civilization,  he 
should  say,  "No,  I  will  not  and  cannot.  Your  pro- 
gress means  divorce,  I  maintain  Christian  marriage. 
Your  progress  means  secular  education ;  I  maintain 
that  education  is  intrinsically  and  necessarily  Christian. 
You  maintain  that  it  is  a  good  thing  that  men  should 
think  as  they  like,  talk  as  they  like,  preach  as  they 
like,  and  propagate  what  errors  they  please.  I  say 
that  it  is  sowing  error  broadcast  over  the  world.  You 
say  I  have  no  authority  over  the  Christian  world,  that 
I  am  not  the  Vicar  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  that  I  am 
not  the  supreme  interpreter  of  the  Christian  Faith.  I 
am  all  these.  You  ask  me  to  abdicate,  to  renounce 
my  supreme  authority.  You  tell  me  I  ought  to  submit 
to  the  civil  power,  that  I  am  the  subject  of  the  King 
of  Italy,  and  from  him  I  am  to  receive  instructions 
as  to  the  way  I  should  exercise  the  civil  power.  I 
say  I  am  liberated  from  all  civil  subjection,  that  my 
Lord  made  me  the  subject  of  no  one  on  earth,  king 
or  otherwise,  that  in  His  right  I  am  sovereign.  I 
acknowledge  no  civil  superior,  I  am  the  subject  of  no 
prince,  and  I  claim  more  than  this — I  claim  to  be 
the  Supreme  Judge  and  director  of  the  consciences  of 
men ;  of  the  peasant  that  tills  the  field  and  the  prince 
that  sits  on  the  throne ;  of  the  household  that  lives  in 
the  shade  of  privacy  and  the  Legislature  that  makes 


XIV.]  OF   THE   PAPACY.  3OI 

laws  for  kingdoms — I  am  the  sole  last  Supreme  Judge 
of  what  is  right  and  wrong."  ' 

We  need  not  pause  to  criticize  the  Archbishop's 
definition  of  c  modern  civilization.'  Whether  or  not 
it  will,  as  alleged,  fall  to  the  lot  of  this  English  prelate 
to  become  the  mouthpiece  of  his  fraternity  in  praying 
the  Pontiff  to  elevate  the  propositions  of  the  Syllabus 
into  Articles  of  Faith,  this  is  certain — that  he  is  in 
entire  accord  with  that  notorious  document  which 
closes  with  these  words,  c  They  are  in  damnable  error 
who  regard  the  reconciliation  of  the  Pope  with  modern 
civilization  as  possible  or  desirable.' 

The  principles  of  authority,  and  of  the  right  of 
private  judgment  —  in  conflict  for  three  centuries — 
are  now  seen  preparing  for  a  struggle  which,  it  is  ad- 
mitted by  the  advocates  of  both,  must  be  decisive  and 
final.  The  issue  cannot  be  uncertain.  That  ancient 
and  crumbling  theocracy  which,  arrogating  to  itself  the 
voice  of  prophecy,  c  I  will  make  him  my  first-born, 
higher  than  the  kings  of  the  earth,'  has  asserted  a 
supreme  authority,  in  the  regions  both  of  the  spiritual 
and  the  secular,  and  still,  with  unabated  presumption, 
sets  itself  in  opposition  to  the  tide  of  progress  and 
of  civilization,  whilst  poisoning  Christianity  at  its 
source,  must  give  place  to  that  light  which  it  has  striven 
to  quench  in  the  blood  of  martyrs — and  by  atrocities 
always  on  a  par  with  its  arrogance — even  cthe  true 
Light  which  lighteth  every  man  that  cometh  into  the 
world.' 

1  O  that  the  free  would  stamp  the  impious  name 
Of  Pope  into  the  dust !  or  write  it  there, 
So  that  this  blot  upon  the  page  of  fame 
Were  as  a  serpent's  path,  which  the  light  air 


302   THE   TEMPORAL  POWER   OF  THE  PAPACY. 

Erases,  and  the  flat  sands  close  behind ! 
Ye  the  oracle  have  heard; 
Lift  the  victory-flashing  sword, 
And  cut  the  snaky  knots  of  this  foul  Gordian  word, 
Which,  weak  itself  as  stubble,  yet  can  bind 

Into  a  mass,  irrefragably  firm, 
The  axes  and  the  rods  which  awe  mankind. 

The  sound  has  poison  in  it — 'tis  the  sperm 
Of  what  makes  life  foul,  cank'rous,  and  abhorr'd: 

Disdain  not,  then,  at  thine  appointed  term, 

To  set  thine  armed  heel  on  this  reluctant  worm l ! ' 

1  Shelley. 


APPENDIX. 

The  important  events  which  characterized  the  Pontificates 
immediately  preceding  that  of  Pius  IX  cannot  be  rightly 
apprehended  without  some  degree  of  acquaintance  with  the 
history  of  those  secret  societies  in  the  Peninsula  through 
whose  agency  they  were  brought  about. 

The  history  of  Italy  in  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth 
century  is  not  that  of  a  united  people ;  for,  notwithstanding 
its  unity  of  language,  the  unmistakable  similarity  of  national 
character  which  pervades  its  whole  population,  its  singularly 
advantageous  geographical  position,  the  universal  aspiration 
after  liberty,  and  many  abortive  attempts  to  shake  off  the 
yoke  of  foreign  oppression,  it  had  failed  to  recognize,  or  at 
least  to  bring  into  healthy  activity,  the  first  elements  of 
national  strength. 

The  curse  of  Italy  from  the  twelfth  century  to  the  present 
time  has  been  the  number,  the  power,  and  the  antagonism 
of  the  '  sects.'  From  the  time  of  Conrad  III,  when  the  rival 
sects  of  Guelphs  and  Ghibellines  were  established,  the  chief 
element  of  discord,  the  most  fatal  hindrance  to  progress, 
has  been  the  power  of  secret  societies,  of  political  and 
politico-religious  sects — the  natural  offshoots  of  despotic 
governments — which  have  diverted  patriotism  and  the  energy 
of  the  nation  from  their  legitimate  aims,  and  proved  the 
handmaid  to  tyranny,  division,  and  irreligion.  In  Italy,  if 
anywhere,  such  associations  were  justifiable;  for  here,  a 
people  possessing  those  qualities — physical,  intellectual,  and 
moral — which  fitted  them  to  become  a  great  and  indepen- 
dent nation,  had,  through  long  ages,  been  held  in  check  by 


(UNIVERSITY) 


304  APPENDIX. 


despotic  governments ;  until  the  impossibility  of  realizing 
the  high  aims  to  which  they  aspired,  left  them  a  prey  to 
paltry  disputes,  and  to  the  finesse  of  the  promoters  of  secret 
societies,  which,  however,  have  worked  nothing  but  ill ;  and, 
when  associated  with  the  ruling  powers,  have  brought  go- 
vernments into  contempt,  subverted  the  very  principle  of 
authority,  and  intensified  the  alienation  of  the  disaffected. 

The  most  distinguished  of  these  secret  societies  which 
have  had  their  birth  within  the  present  century,  was  that  of 
the  Carbonari.  The  object  of  this  association  was  the  over- 
throw of  existing  governments,  for  the  accomplishment  of 
which  it  relied  mainly  upon  foreign  aid,  and  was  ready 
to  ally  itself  witrf  any  power,  French,  English,  or  sub- 
Alpine,  which  would  take  the  initiative ;  beyond  that  it  was 
content  to  leave  to  the  future  to  arrange  and  harmonize  the 
diverse  aims  and  opinions  of  its  members,  who  entertained 
every  possible  variety  of  political  opinion,  but  the  great 
majority  of  whom  were  believed  to  be  Republicans.  The 
oath  which  was  administered  on  initiation  said  nothing  as  to 
the  aims  to  be  reached ;  it  simply  enjoined  implicit  obedience 
to  the  executive,  and,  if  necessary,  the  sacrifice  of  self  for 
the  good  of  the  order. 

Carbonarism  may  be  said  to  have  had  its  rise  in  the 
perfidy  of  the  Archduke  John,  who,  in  the  year  1809,  had 
promised  independence  to  the  Italians. 

The  name  of  the  society  was  derived  from  the  woodland 
and  mountainous  districts  of  Calabria,  whither  many  refugees 
had  resorted,  and  where  their  chief  occupation  was  the 
manufacture  of  charcoal  The  secret  meetings  of  their  order 
were  called  Vendite,  or  charcoal  sales.  In  its  early  career 
the  association  received  the  support  of  many  distinguished 
men  who  aspired  after  Italian  unity.  Its  establishment  in 
the  kingdom  of  the  Two  Sicilies,  in  181 1,  had  the  approba- 
tion both  of  Murat  and  of  the  Minister  of  Police ;    Murat 


APPENDIX.  305 


sagaciously  recognizing,  in  its  extensive  and  powerful  or- 
ganization, a  valuable  auxiliary  in  carrying  out  his  own 
ambitious  design  of  establishing  a  great  independent  Italian 
kingdom.  A  year  later,  Count  Nugent,  the  commander  of 
the  Austrian  forces  in  Italy,  with  a  perfidy  which,  alas ! 
England  may  not  censure,  played  upon  the  imprudent 
credulity  of  the  Italians  by  issuing  a  proclamation  from 
Ravenna,  on  the  10th  of  December,  181 2,  in  which  he  pro- 
mised independence  and  union.  Two  years  later  the  sym- 
pathetic voice  of  England  encouraged  the  same  delusive 
hopes.  Lord  William  Bentinck  favoured  the  movement 
which  the  Carbonari  had  originated,  promising  the  assistance 
of  British  arms  to  restore  Italy  to  the  position  she  occupied 
in  her  most  brilliant  epochs.  On  the  29th  of  March,  18 14, 
he  landed  at  Spezzia  with  12,000  men,  unfurled  his  banners 
bearing  the  inscription  '  Independence  of  Italy/  and  issued  a 
proclamation  summoning  the  Italians  to  arms  j  whilst,  prob- 
ably impelled  by  the  apprehension  of  Austrian  intervention, 
immediately  upon  hearing  of  the  abdication  of  Napoleon,  he 
despatched  a  messenger  to  Victor  Emanuel  I  requesting  him 
at  once  to  take  possession  of  his  dominions. 

In  1815,  the  insincerity  of  Murat  had  been  demonstrated. 
The  infatuated  and  ambitious  king,  believing  that  the  mo- 
ment had  arrived  for  the  realization  of  his  bold  design  of 
bringing  the  whole  Peninsula  under  his  sway,  was  now  in 
open  alliance  with  Napoleon ;  and,  chagrined  at  the  loss  of 
the  English  alliance,  and  his  inability  to  command  that 
support  in  Italy  upon  which  his  credulity  had  led  him  to 
rely,  he  staked  the  success  of  his  mad  enterprise  upon  the 
patriotism  of  the  Carbonari,  and  excited  them  to  rise  and 
assert  their  country's  freedom.  The  allies,  however,  had 
resolved  upon  the  restoration  of  the  Sicilian  family  to  the 
throne  of  Naples ;  the  Duke  of  Wellington  in  an  interview  at 
Ghent  with   the  exile  king,  Louis  XVIII,  having  declared 

x 


306  APPENDIX. 


that  he  regarded  the  restoration  of  the  Bourbons  as  essential 
to  the  equilibrium  of  Europe  \ 

At  this  time  Carbonarism  had  become  the  ruling  power 
throughout  Sicily  and  Corsica,  and  had  penetrated  into  the 
Roman  States.  Its  role  of  members  increased  with  astound- 
ing rapidity,  and  its  influence  was  so  far  acknowledged  that 
the  adherence  and  support  of  the  society  was  courted  by  the 
competitors  for  power.  The  promptings  which  it  received 
from  foreign  governments  confirmed  the  inherent  weakness 
of  the  association, — its  absence  of  faith  in  the  Italians,  and 
its  consequent  subserviency  to  foreign  impulses. 

In  182 1,  Charles  Albert,  the  heir-apparent  to  the  Sar- 
dinian throne,  enrolled  himself  a  member  of  the  association ; 
a  circumstance  which,  though  it  inspired  great  hopes  of 
conducing  to  the  early  and  complete  realization  of  the 
objects  of  the  society,  was  in  reality  a  fatal  blow  to  its 
success.  In  182 1,  Charles  Albert,  the  Prince,  was  a  con- 
spirator; but  in  1 83 1,  Charles  Albert,  the  King,  had  no 
liking  for  a  society  which  aimed  at  subverting  the  principle 
of  monarchy;  and  his  former  complicity  with  the  revolu- 
tionary association  rendered  him,  as  King,  its  most  powerful 
and  effective  antagonist.  At  this  time,  Mazzini  imforms  us, 
'  the  society  had  reached  a  degree  of  numerical  strength 
unknown  to  any  of  the  societies  by  which  it  was  succeeded. 
But  the  Carbonari  did  not  know  how  to  turn  their  strength 
to  account.  Although  the  doctrines  of  Carbonarism  were 
widely  diffused,  its  leaders  had  no  confidence  in  the  people, 
and  appealed  to  them  rather  to  attain  an  appearance  of  force 
likely  to  attract  those  men  of  rank  and  station  in  whom 
alone  they  put  their  trust,  than  from  any  idea  of  leading 
them  to  immediate  action.  Hence  the  ardour  and  energy  of 
the  youth  of  the  order — of  those  who  dreamed  only  of 
country,  the  republic,  war  and  glory  in  the  eyes  of  Europe — 

1  Alison,  vol.  xix. 


APPENDIX.  307 


was  entrusted  to  the  direction  of  men,  not  only  old  in  years, 
but  imbued  with  the  ideas  of  the  Empire— cold  precisionists 
who  had  neither  faith  nor  future,  and  who,  instead  of 
fostering,  repressed  all  daring  and  enthusiasm.  At  a  later 
date,  when  the  immense  mass  of  Carbonari  already  affiliated, 
and  the-  consequent  impossibility  of  preserving  secrecy  con- 
vinced the  leaders  of  the  necessity  for  action,  they  felt  the 
want  of  some  stronger  bond  of  unity,  and  not  having  a 
principle  on  which  to  found  it,  they  set  themselves  to  find  it 
in  a  man — a  prince.      This  was  the  ruin  of  Carbonarism.' 

The  insurrections  of  the  Carbonari  were  successful,  but 
were  invariably  followed  by  intestine  discords.  In  religion, 
as  in  politics,  they  lacked  a  definite  programme.  Repub- 
licans in  principle,  they  hailed  and  supported  monarchy  for 
the  sake  of  associating  a  royal  name  with  the  insurrection, 
and  openly  recognized  Charles  Albert  as  a  leader — a  man 
whom  they  hated  and  despised.  Hating  Murat,  and  dis- 
gusted both  with  the  form  and  the  severity  of  his  govern- 
ment, they  madly  threw  themselves  into  his  enterprise 
against  Austria,  heedless  of  the  appeals  of  Nugent  \  of  the 
declared  purposes  of  the  brave  but  unprincipled  and  despotic 
king,  and  of  the  condemnation,  because  of  the  inevitable 
failure  of  the  enterprise,  by  Napoleon,  who  prognosticated 
that  his  brother-in-law  incurred  greater  risk  in  making  war 
in  1 81 5  than  he  had  done  in  abstaining  from  war  in  18 14. 

Two  million  of  Italians  were  ready  to  rise  at  the  call  of 
their  leaders ;  but  though  the  necessity  of  war  with  Austria 
had  been  foreseen,  and  even  hailed,  no  preparations  had 
been  made ;  and  the  arms  which  the  people  demanded  were 
refused  them.  Deserted  by  Charles  Albert,  and  betrayed  by 
Murat,  '  they  fell/  says  Mazzini,  *  not  vanquished  by  superior 

1  Count  Nugent,  who  was  in  command  of  the  Austrian  forces  in  Italy, 
energetically  warned  the  Carbonari  of  the  danger  of  being  ensnared  by  the 
specious  promises  of  Murat. 

X  2 


308  APPENDIX. 


forces,  which  would  have  left  them  the  honour  of  combat, 
but  overthrown  by  a  sophism  which  they  introduced  into 
their  revolutionary  programme.'  The  Pope  formally  con- 
demned and  anathematized  them,  and  sanctioned  the  for- 
mation of  the  rival  sect  of  Sanfedists. 

The  professed  object  of  the  association,  which  enjoyed 
the  patronage  of  a  Holy  Father,  and  of  all  the  despotic 
governments  of  Italy,  was  to  defend  the  Roman  Catholic 
religion,  and  the  temporal  dominion  and  prerogatives  of  the 
Papacy,  both  from  the  plots  of  the  Carbonari  and  the  aggres- 
sions of  Austria.  An  unmitigated  hatred  between  the  two 
sects  ensued,  and  on  the  pretext  of  a  detected  conspiracy, 
the  Papal  Government  commenced  an  organized  system  of 
persecution  to  which  many  of  the  leading  Carbonari  in  the 
Papal  States  fell  victims.  The  number  of  the  proscriptions, 
including  men  in  every  province,  and  of  every  social  class — 
priests,  nobles,  soldiers,  and  peasants — revealed  the  extent  to 
which  the  sect  had  spread  its  ramifications,  and  inspired  new 
hopes  of  eventual  success.  Secret  inquisitions  were  estab- 
lished by  the  Government ;  politics  took  the  place  of  religion 
in  the  pulpits ;  the  punishment  of  death  was  not  too  severe 
for  those  who  were  even  suspected  of  Carbonarism.  The 
result  of  this  Sanfedist  persecution  was  that  Leo  XII  died  in 
1829  execrated  by  the  great  body  of  his  people,  whilst  many 
of  the  wealthy  and  educated  classes  had  emigrated  to  Lom- 
bardy  and  Tuscany,  where  they  contributed  to  help  forward 
the  liberal  movement  which  was  soon  to  prove  the  Nemesis  of 
Sanfedist  malevolence. 

In  early  life  Mazzini  had  enrolled  himself  a  Carbonaro. 
'While  studying  the  events  of  1820  and  1821,'  he  says,  'I 
had  learned  much  of  Carbonarism,  and  I  did  not  much  ad- 
mire the  complex  symbolism,  the  hierarchical  mysteries,  nor 
the  political  faith  — or  rather  the  absence  of  all  political  faith 
■ — I  discovered  in  that  institution.     But  I  was  at  that  time 


APPENDIX.  309 


unable  to  attempt  to  form  any  association  of  my  own,  and  in  the 
Carbonari  I  found  a  body  of  men  in  whom,  however  inferior 
they  were  to  the  idea  they  represented,  thought  and  action, 
faith  and  works  were  identical.  Here  were  men  who,  defying 
alike  excommunication  and  capital  punishment,  had  the 
persistent  energy  ever  to  persevere  and  to  weave  a  fresh  web 
each  time  the  old  one  was  broken.  And  this  was  enough  to 
induce  me  to  join  my  name  and  my  labours  to  theirs/ 
Within  a  few  months  of  his  initiation  he  was  betrayed  by  a 
certain  Major  Cotton,  to  whom  he  was  deputed  to  minister 
the  oath  for  the  second  rank  of  Carbonari.  Rifle-bullets,  the 
formula  of  the  oath,  and  other  treasonable  papers  being  found 
upon  him,  he  was  at  once  arrested,  and  was  confined  for 
some  months  in  the  fortress  of  Savona.  Here  it  was  that, 
reflecting  on  the  defective  aims  and  organization  of  Carbona- 
rism,  he  conceived  the  plan  of  the  association  of  La  Giovine 
Italia. 

On  the  accession  of  Charles  Albert  to  the  Sardinian  throne 
in  183 1,  Mazzini  resolved  to  address  him  through  the  press. 
His  address,  which  has  been  appropriately  described  as  '  a 
flash  of  divine  eloquence,  such  as  never  before  shone  over 
Italy,'  recalled  the  hopes  awakened  in  the  minds  of  Italians 
by  the  accession  of  a  prince  who  had  been  a  Carbonaro  in 
1 82 1,  and  exhorted  the  king  to  undertake  the  liberation  of 
Italy.  In  a  preface  to  the  republication  of  this  letter  in  1847, 
Mazzini  says :  '  I  do  not  believe  that  the  salvation  of  Italy 
can  be  achieved  now  or  at  any  future  time  by  Prince,  Pope, 
or  King/  And  he  adds,  '  /  held  these  convictions  even  at  the 
time  zvhen  I  wrote  that  letter! 

An  order  for  the  arrest  of  Mazzini,  should  he  attempt  to 
return  to  Italy,  followed  the  publication  of  his  letter  to  the 
king;  and  abandoning  the  hope,  which  his  own  words  show 
that  he  never  honestly  entertained,  of  help  coming  from 
Sardinia,  he  betook  himself  to  the  development  of  his  pro- 


3lO  APPENDIX. 


jected  association,  the  Giovine  Italia,  or  '  Young  Italy ; '  and 
for  the  better  prosecution  of  his  plans  he  removed  to 
Marseilles. 

In  the  association  of  '  Young  Italy'  Mazzini  aimed  at  the 
development  and  completion  of  the  fundamental  ideas  of 
Carbonarism.  That  association  concerned  itself  chiefly  with 
the  work  of  destruction,  and  relied  upon  the  harmony,  in- 
duced by  united  effort,  for  the  successful  guidance  of  the 
revolution  which  should  succeed  the  insurrection.  Mazzini,  on 
the  contrary,  believed  that  the  success  of  the  revolution  de- 
pended upon  its  having  a  practical  aim.  The  new  society, 
therefore,  presented  a  definite  programme,  and  publicly  an- 
nounced it  to  their  fellow  countrymen.  That  aim  was  revolu- 
tion; but  profiting  by  the  experiences  of  Carbonarism,  which 
had  taught  the  importance  of  union  in  the  critical  moments 
which  follow  success  in  action,  they  would  inculcate  before- 
hand the  steps  by  which-  the  attainment  of  their  aims  must 
be  accomplished.  Young  Italy  was  boldly  proclaimed  to-be 
Republican  and  Unitarian,  whilst  it  further  sought  to  secure 
unity  of  religious  faith.  What  this  faith  was  is  not  very  clear, 
but  it  was  adverse  to  the  Papacy.  Mazzini  affirms  in  his 
writings  at  this  period  that  '  liberty  and  the  Papacy  are  in 
direct  contradiction  and  opposed  to  each  other/  and  that 
'  the  Papacy  is  extinct  and  Catholicism  a  corpse.' 

Instead  of  admitting  heterogeneous  elements,  as  did  Carbo- 
narism, the  society  was  confined  to  those  who  accepted  and 
believed  in  its  avowed  creed,  for  the  elucidation  and  dissemi- 
nation of  which  a  special  literature  sprang  into  existence, 
and  a  journal  bearing  the  name  of  the  association  was  started 
towards  the  close  of  1831,  and  was  conducted  with  amazing 
vigour  and  ability,  Mazzini  and  his  Genoese  friends  being  the 
principal  contributors. 

The  means  which  the  Giovine  Italia  proposed  to  itself  for 
the  accomplishment  of  its  aims  were  education  and  instruction; 


APPENDIX.  3II 


by  education  was  understood  the  teaching  by  example,  word, 
and  pen,  of  the  necessity  of  insurrection.  It  proposed  to 
carry  on  the  insurrection  by  means  of  guerilla  bands,  which 
should  render  it  universal  throughout  Italy,  and  so  conse- 
crate every  foot  of  native  soil  by  the  memory  of  some  great 
exploit :  *  the  soil  once  free,  every  authority  will  bow  down 
before  the  national  Council,  the  sole  source  of  authority  in 
the  State  V  The  one  thing  wanting  to  twenty  millions  of 
Italians  desirous  of  emancipating  themselves,  was  affirmed  to 
be  not  power,  but  faith.  '  Young  Italy  will  endeavour  to 
inspire  this  faith,  first  by  its  teachings  and  afterwards  by  an 
energetic  initiative ; '  and  it  repudiated  alike  the  assistance  and 
pity  of  foreign  governments.  The  government  during  the 
insurrection  was  to  be  vested  in  a  provisional  dictatorial 
power,  concentrated  in  the  hands  of  a  small  number  of  tried 
and  trusted  men.  The  banner  of  Young  Italy,  displaying  the 
colours  white,  red,  and  green,  was  to  bear  on  one  side  the 
words  '  Liberty,  Equality,  Humanity/  and  on  the  other 
'  Unity  and  Independence.'  Rejecting  the  complicated 
symbols  and  hierarchical  mysteries  of  Carbonarism,  the 
members  were  divided  simply  into  two  classes — the  Initiators 
and  the  Initiated,  and  the  form  of  oath,  administered  upon 
initiation,  distinctly  declared  the  objects  of  the  society  and 
the  means  to  be  employed  for  their  accomplishment. 

Mazzini  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  the  movement, 
which  was  to  have  its  centre  out  of  Italy,  and  devoted  him- 
self, safe  in  exile,  to  the  framing  of  plots,  and  to  the  work  of 
forming  committees  of  the  association  throughout  Italy.  In 
the  Pontifical  States  he  found  many  ready  accomplices, 
through  the  vindictive  spirit  which  Papal  misgovernment, 
and  the  malignant  operations  of  the  Sanfedist  faction  had 
provoked.  The  sect  spread  rapidly,  enlisting  the  sympathies 
of  multitudes  who  were  not  enrolled  as  members,  and  re- 


Life  and  Writings  of  Mazzini,'  vol. 


3  I  2  APPENDIX. 


ceiving  into  its  ranks  Italian  patriots,  Polish  refugees,  and 
French  Republicans. 

The  publication  of  the  journal  Young  Italy  had  been  pre- 
ceded by  a  manifesto,  clandestinely  circulated,  in  which  the 
objects  of  the  association  were  set  forth,  and  the  history  of 
1 82 1  and  1 83 1  was  proclaimed  to  have  consummated  and 
concluded  the  separation  of  Young  Italy  from  the  men  of 
the  past ;  and  therein  to  have  taught  a  better  lesson  to  the 
rising  generation  than  whole  volumes  of  theories.  These 
publications  were  designed  to  supply  the  place  of  personal 
influence,  and,  for  a  while,  were  easily  smuggled  into  Italy. 
But  when  the  attention  of  the  authorities  had  been  thoroughly 
roused,  and  large  rewards  offered  for  the  seizure  of  the 
papers  of  the  association — whilst  non-informants  who  were 
privy  to  their  introduction  into  Italy  were  threatened  with  a 
heavy  fine  and  two  years'  imprisonment — much  caution  and 
ingenuity  were  requisite  to  accomplish  this  end.  The  mem- 
bers of  Young  Italy,  however,  outwitted  the  Government 
spies,  who  dogged  them  continually;  their  writings  found 
their  way  into  Italy  as  freely  as  before,  and  were  reproduced 
by  means  of  clandestine  presses  established  in  various  cen- 
tral places. 

Thus  in  one  year  the  Giovine  Italia  became  the  dominant 
secret  society  throughout  the  whole  of  Italy,  whilst  '  a  central 
committee  existed  abroad,  whose  duties  consisted  in  holding 
aloft,  as  it  were,  the  flag  of  the  association,  forging  as  many 
links  as  possible  between  the  Italian  and  foreign  democratic 
element,  and  generally  directing  and  superintending  the 
working  of  the  association1/  Before  the  year  had  closed 
Mazzini  had  become  the  heart  and  soul  of  the  Italian  move- 
ment, the  recognized  '  King  of  Young  Italy,'  the  undisputed 
ruler  of  a  State  of  his  own  creation. 

Attempts  were  made,  through  the  medium  of  agents  of  the 

1   Mazzini. 


APPENDIX.  313 


Italian  Governments,  to  suppress  the  publication  of  Young 
Italy  in  France,  and  in  August,  1832,  a  decree  was  issued  by 
which  Mazzini  was  exiled  from  the  country.  He  contrived, 
nevertheless,  to  continue  to  reside,  and  to  superintend  the 
publication  of  his  journal  at  Marseilles,  for  a  whole  year, 
cleverly  eluding  the  unremitting  search  of  the  police.  On 
one  occasion,  when  his  asylum  was  at  last  discovered,  he 
persuaded  the  prefect  to  send  him  away  quietly  under  the 
escort  of  his  own  agents,  and  succeeded  in  substituting  and 
sending  to  Geneva  in  his  place,  a  friend,  who  bore  a  strong 
personal  resemblance  to  him,  whilst  he  walked  quietly  through 
the  whole  row  of  the  police  officers,  dressed  in  the  uniform 
of  a  National  Guard!  Banished  from  France,  proscribed 
in  Piedmont  and  Switzerland,  he  sought  refuge  from  political 
persecution  where  alone  it  was  to  be  found,  in  the  free  soil 
of  old  England. 

At  this  period  much  odium  was  brought  upon  the  Giovine 
Italia  by  the  atrocious  calumnies  launched  against  Mazzini, 
charging  him  not  only  with  sanctioning  the  odious  practice 
of  assassination,  but  with  the  actual  personal  guilt  of  the 
crime — a  charge  from  which  the  accused  triumphantly  vin- 
dicated himself.  '  I  abhor/  he  says,  '  and  all  those  who 
know  me  well  know  that  I  abhor,  bloodshed,  and  every 
species  of  terror  erected  into  a  system,  as  remedies  equally 
ferocious,  unjust,  and  inefficacious  against  evils  that  can  only 
be  cured  by  the  diffusion  of  liberal  ideas/  And  again,  in  his 
pamphlet,  entitled  '  Italy,  Austria,  and  the  Pope/  published 
in  London  in  1844,  ne  savs>  'I  firmly  believe  in  the  im- 
morality of  the  punishment  of  death  ;  and  it  seems  to  assume 
a  colour  yet  more  degrading  to  our  age,  when  visited  on 
political  offences.' 

This  association,  then,  whatever  view  we  take  of  its  claim 
to  consideration  on  the  ground  of  moral,  social,  or  political 
expediency,  or  of  its  appropriateness  to  the  circumstances 

Y 


314  APPENDIX. 


and  the  character  of  the  Italian  people,  was  in  advance  of 
those  secret  societies  by  which  it  was  preceded,  and  par- 
ticularly of  Carbonarism,  out  of  which  it  sprang,  and  which 
it  had  sufficient  vitality  to  absorb  and  transform,  in  these 
particulars. 

It  suppressed  all  condemnations  to  death,  and  in  the 
punishment  of  treachery  and  insubordination  substituted 
simple  expulsion  from  its  ranks  for  the  stiletto  of  the 
assassin. 

By  announcing  a  definite  programme  and  political  faith,  it 
afforded  a  test  which  enabled  its  members  to  rely  upon  union 
in  the  pursuit  of  a  common  object,  when  the  insurrection 
should  be  accomplished. 

By  its  widely-circulated  writings  it  kept  the  great  funda- 
mental objects  at  which  it  aimed  constantly  before  its  mem- 
bers, thus  educating  them  to  unity  of  purpose. 

By  insisting  upon  unity  of  religion  on  a  broad  basis,  it 
closed  the  door  at  once  to  ill-timed  religious  discussion  and 
to  the  infidelity  which  had  proved  a  source  of  much  weak- 
ness to  Carbonarism. 

By  limiting  the  association  to  the  youth  of  Italy,  and  ex- 
cluding all  above  forty  years  of  age,  it  secured  a  degree  of 
enthusiasm  which  was  invaluable ;  and  if  this  were  purchased 
by  the  loss  of  the  wisdom  and  experience  which  belong  to 
age,  the  limitation  further  excluded  many  dangerous  men, 
deeply  imbued  with  Carbonarism,  and  hostile  to  the  Re- 
publican form  of  government.     And  lastly, 

By  boldly  proclaiming  that  Italy  was  strong  enough  to 
effect  her  own  deliverance  without  the  aid  of  foreign  govern- 
ments, it  struck  at  the  root  of  that  pusillanimous  fear  which, 
pointing  to  foreign  alliances  as  Italy's  only  hope,  had  ener- 
vated and  eventually  destroyed  Carbonarism. 

But  it  had  also  this  radical  weakness, — its  centre  of  autho- 
rity was  placed  abroad.     The  refugees  were  to  be  the  real 


APPENDIX.  315 


soul  of  the  movement.  '  This/  says  Farini,  '  was  a  recur- 
rence to  the  times  and  customs  of  the  Middle  Ages,  when  as 
often  as  citizens  were  banished  by  their  opponents,  who  had 
gained  the  ascendancy,  from  those  turbulent  republics,  they 
used  to  apply  themselves  in  exile  to  raise  money  and  troops 
in  rival  cities,  or  in  intriguing  courts,  and  then  attempted 
the  conquest  of  their  country  by  stirring  up  the  factions  at 
home.'  And  it  must  be  confessed  that  in  the  face  of  power- 
ful standing  armies,  and  the  secure  alliances  under  which  all 
the  Italian  Governments,  and  particularly  that  of  the  Pope, 
reposed,  the  tactics  of  Young  Italy  appear  quixotic,  and  ill- 
adapted  to  the  attainment  of  the  objects  of  its  lofty  and 
patriotic  ambition. 

Another  important  politico-religious  association  demands 
a  reference,  on  account  of  the  influence  which  it  exercised  in 
the  north  of  Italy,  and  particularly  in  Piedmont.  La  Catollica 
was  essentially  an  institution  of  the  Jesuits ;  it  took  its  rise 
during  the  French  occupation  of  Italy  at  the  close  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  and  became  affiliated  with  the  govern- 
ment of  the  princes  of  Savoy,  whose  territory  was  then  con- 
fined to  the  island  of  Sardinia.  Its  avowed  objects  were  the 
maintenance  of  the  privileges  of  the  Church,  and  of  the 
principles  of  absolute  government ;  hence  the  tenacity  with 
which  it  retained  its  influence  over  the  court  and  the  clergy. 
Councillors  of  State,  bishops,  and  clergy  were  generally 
chosen  from  its  ranks ;  whilst  the  powerful  engine  of  educa- 
tion was  employed  for  extending  its  ramifications  throughout 
Piedmont,  where,  at  the  commencement  of  the  reign  of 
Charles  Albert,  its  power  was  practically  unlimited,  and 
secured  for  prince  and  people  the  distrust  of  the  Liberals  in 
the  other  Italian  States. 


316  APPENDIX. 


APPENDIX   B. 

The  printed  scheme  of  the  dogma  of  Infallibility  has 
been  distributed.     It  contains  five  canons  : — 

I.  If  any  one  should  say  that  the  episcopal  chair  of  the 
Roman  Church  is  riot  the  true  and  real  infallible  chair  of 
Blessed  Peter,  or  that  it  has  not  been  divinely  chosen  by 
God  as  the  most  solid,  indefectible,  and  incorruptible  rock 
of  the  whole  Christian  Church,  let  him  be  anathema. 

II.  If  any  one  should  say  that  there  exists  in  the  world 
another  infallible  chair  of  the  truth  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ 
our  Lord,  distinct  and  separate  from  the  chair  of  Blessed 
Peter,  let  him  be  anathema. 

III.  If  any  one  should  deny  that  the  divine  magisterium 
of  the  chair  of  Blessed  Peter  is  necessary  to  the  true  way  of 
eternal  salvation  for  all  men,  whether  unfaithful  or  faithful, 
whether  laymen  or  bishops,  let  him  be  anathema. 

IV.  If  any  one  should  say  that  each  Roman  Pontiff,  legi- 
timately elected,  is  not  by  Divine  right  the  successor  of 
Blessed  Peter,  even  in  the  gift  of  the  infallibility  of  magis- 
terium, and  should  deny  to  any  one  of  them  the  prerogative 
of  infallibility  for  teaching  the  Church  the  Word  of  God, 
pure  from  all  corruption  and  error,  let  him  be  anathema. 

V.  If  any  one  should  say  that  General  Councils  are 
established  by  God  in  the  Church  as  a  power  of  feeding 
the  Divine  flock  in  the  word  of  faith  superior  to  the  Roman 
Pontiff,  or  equal  to  him,  or  necessary  by  Divine  institution, 
in  order  that  the  magisterium  of  the  Roman  Bishop  should 
be  preserved  infallible,  let  him  be  anathema. 


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